Page 109 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

98 D. ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN, B. ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN, F. DILLMAN CARPENTIER

think and behave. Perhaps because of its nature, few media scholars have
questioned whether media priming exists. However, there are few direct,
empirical studies of its existence or of the conditions under which it
occurs.
For a study to be a direct test of media priming, a control condition
must be included in the design. A control condition could be as simple as
a condition in which no media prime is presented before measuring rele-
vant thoughts or behaviors. A recent meta-analysis of the media priming
literature, using a loose definition of media, found only 42 published
studies with sufficient control conditions (Roskos-Ewoldsen, Klinger, &
Roskos-Ewoldsen, in press). Representative studies from these domains
are described below to verify the existence of media priming and to high-
light the kinds of results that need to be explained by theories of media
priming.

Media Violence and Priming

Josephson (1987) investigated the priming effects of violent media on chil-
dren’s behavior. In this study, Josephson gathered measures of young
boys’ trait aggression from their teachers. The boys saw either a violent or
a nonviolent television program, each of comparable excitement, likeabil-
ity, and enjoyment value. The violent segment contained recurring images
of walkie-talkies, whereas the nonviolent program contained no walkie-
talkies. The walkie-talkies served as a cue for the violent television pro-
gram, but not for the nonviolent program. Either before or after the televi-
sion program, half the boys saw a 30-second nonviolent cartoon segment
that had been edited to become increasingly static-ridden, eventually
worsening to “snow.” This cartoon segment was meant to frustrate the
young viewers with its apparent technical malfunction.
After viewing their assigned programs, the boys were mock inter-
viewed and then sent to the school gymnasium to play floor hockey. For
the mock interview, either a walkie-talkie or a microphone was used. In
this way, half of the boys were exposed to the violence-related cue and
half were not. The boys then took turns playing hockey and were
observed both on and off the court for signs of aggressive behavior, such
as pushing other boys down, hitting other players with the hockey stick,
or calling other boys abusive names. After three periods, each for 3 min-
utes of play, the boys were returned to the teachers.
Josephson (1987) found that violent television viewing primed boys
who were high in trait aggressiveness to act more violently during initial
sports activity (i.e., during the first period of play). This effect was height-
ened both when violent programming was coupled with the violence-
related cue and when violent programming was followed by frustration.