Page 283 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

272 SPARKS AND SPARKS

instances of violence per hour, a rate that indicated little change from an
earlier study that he had conducted for the National Commission on the
Causes and Prevention of Violence. With the prevalence of violent con-
tent firmly established in a quantitative way, the stage was set for
researchers to delve into the question of the impact of that content.

DOES VIEWING MEDIA VIOLENCE
CAUSE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR?

The central question that has framed the controversy over the effects of
media violence over the last four decades is the question about how expo-
sure to violent media images affects the tendency for viewers to behave
aggressively. There is a wealth of research evidence to draw on for this
question, and a comprehensive review of this literature is well beyond the
scope of this chapter, especially because a number of recent reviews
already exist (Comstock & Scharrer, 1999; Jason, Kennedy, & Brackshaw,
1999; Murray, 1998; Smith & Donnerstein, 1998). Despite the fact that
studies abound on this central question, the literature has always been
characterized by controversy that seems to mature in step with the
methodological progress that is made over the years.
Early in the history of this controversy, Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963a,
1963b) presented evidence in favor of the theory of social learning when
they demonstrated that children were more likely to imitate the aggres-
sive actions of a model when the model was rewarded instead of pun-
ished. These studies were criticized because the measure of aggression
(hitting an inflatable doll) did not seem to be related necessarily to the
construct of human aggression (see Liebert et al., 1982). The studies were
also criticized for their reliance on programs that had little resemblance to
programs that children were likely to view on television. As evidence has
gathered over the years in favor of a causal relationship between exposure
to media violence and aggressive behavior in the laboratory context, the
nature of the controversy has shifted away from these types of method-
ological issues to a focus on whether laboratory results in general have
any relevance to aggression outside the laboratory. This dimension of the
controversy was featured by Barbara Walters on a segment of the October
20, 2000, ABC news program 20/20. The segment focused on Jonathan
Freedman (one of the few scholars who strongly dissents from the opinion
that media violence increases aggressive behavior), Leonard Eron,
L. Rowell Huesmann, and their ongoing argument about the extent to
which research on the effects of media violence demonstrates a causal
connection between exposure to violence and increased aggression out-
side the laboratory. These authors have all been prominent contributors to