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10. EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE 273
the media violence literature (see Freedman, 1984, 1988; Huesmann &
Eron, 1986; Huesmann, Lagerspetz, & Eron, 1984), and their debate on the
public airwaves left more questions than answers, even for viewers who
considered themselves to be experts on the key issues. The ultimate mes-
sage of this broadcast for the layperson was that the scientific community
was completely unsettled about the real-world consequences of exposure
to media violence. The published literature reveals that this message is
hardly an accurate one. Numerous reviews by researchers, professional
associations, and organizations all agree that exposure to media violence
is causally related to aggressive behavior (see recent reviews by the Amer-
ican Psychological Association, 1993; Centers for Disease Control, 1991;
Heath, Bresolin, & Rinaldi, 1989, and the National Academy of Science,
1993). Wilson et al. (1997), writing for the National Television Violence
Study, also concluded that the evidence in favor of a causal connection
between exposure to media violence and violence in society was clear.
Several meta-analyses lend strong credence to this conclusion (e.g., Paik &
Comstock, 1994; Wood, Wong, & Chachere, 1991).
Despite the fact that controversy still exists about the impact of media
violence, the research results reveal a dominant and consistent pattern in
favor of the notion that exposure to violent media images does increase the
risk of aggressive behavior. It is important to note that even among stud-
ies that are not able to yield clear conclusions about causality, the most fre-
quent result remains consistent with the hypothesis that viewing violence
causes an increase in aggressive behavior. Briefly considered, what is the
nature of the research evidence on this most central question? Following
Gunter’s (1994) review of the evidence on this question, we will examine
the literature from different types of experiments and surveys, followed
by a consideration of the theoretical mechanisms that might be responsi-
ble for the relationship between exposure to media violence and subse-
quent aggression.
Experiments
A number of early experiments with children provided evidence for the
facilitation of aggressive behavior after viewing violent media. One of the
most widely cited studies was conducted by Liebert and Baron (1971).
Using children from 5 to 9 years old, the authors randomly assigned the
subjects to view a brief clip from either a violent program (The Untouch-
ables) or a nonviolent sports program. Following exposure to one of these
programs, subjects were told that they could either “help” or “hurt” the
progress of another child in an adjoining room who was trying to win a
game. By pressing a “help” button the subjects were told that they could
make it easier for the other child to turn a handle that was critical for