relationship between desensitization to violence and
aggressive behavior is unknown.Viewer Characteristics
Not all media presentations of violence have the same
effect. Several stable individual differences have been
identified by researchers who moderate the impact of
violent media on aggressive behavior. Viewer age
appears to make a difference, at least under some cir-
cumstances, but the relationship between age and
effects of media violence is not resolved at this time.
Gender of viewer also appears to interact with expo-
sure to violence in the media in complicated ways.
Initial research found greater effects for boys than for
girls; however, more recent research did not confirm
this difference. It is more likely that males and females
display differing aggression patterns in general, with
boys exhibiting greater tendencies toward direct phys-
ical aggression and girls displaying tendencies toward
indirect forms of aggression. Early exposure to vio-
lence in the media may increase indirect aggression
tendencies in females (telling lies, taking other people’s
things out of anger) but not in males. Aggressiveness
of the viewer also appears to interact with media expo-
sure. Children who are especially aggressive may be
both likely to seek out violent media and later, when
exposed to it, more likely to learn aggressive scripts or
be cognitively stimulated by violent depictions. Viewer
intelligence appears not to be related to media violence
effects. However, children with certain perceptual ten-
dencies such as greater identification with violent
actors and the perception that the media violence is
realistic appear to display aggressive tendencies well
after media exposure.Media Characteristics
Some media portrayals carry more risk than others for
increasing aggressive behavior in viewers. There is
evidence that viewers are influenced by aggressive
characters who appear to be similar to themselves.
Other research has demonstrated that violent perpetra-
tors who are charismatic or generally attractive are
more likely to be imitated. The consequences por-
trayed for the violent behavior in the media may also
be important for predicting imitation effects. Findings
from experiments that manipulated whether violence
was justified increased the likelihood that angered sub-
jects would later exhibit increased aggression. Mediaviolence perpetrators who are rewarded are also more
likely to be imitated. On the other hand, showing neg-
ative consequences for violent behavior portrayed in
the media appears to reduce later aggression. Media
portrayals that are especially bloody or gory while
increasing desensitization to violence in viewers do
not necessarily appear to reduce violence as a result of
the portrayal of negative consequences to the victim.Demographic Variables
and Media Violence
Children from families of lower socioeconomic status
(SES) watch more television and thus are exposed to
more media violence than others. There is not much
evidence that low SES itself is causally related to
increases in aggressive behavior following media expo-
sure. Parental involvement may be important in moder-
ating the effects of media violence. Children of parents
who discuss the appropriateness of aggressive behavior
following exposure to violence in the media show
fewer aggressive tendencies. However, parental tenden-
cies such as aggressiveness and coldness, other parental
personality variables, and parental television viewing
habits appear to be unrelated to children’s aggressive
tendencies following exposure to violence in the media.Policy Implications
The effects of media violence on aggressive behavior
are sufficiently robust for media violence to have been
considered a significant public health problem.
Because of the large number of children and youths
exposed to media violence, the overall effect of the
media on behavior may be quite significant. A corre-
lation of .2 between viewing media violence and
aggressive behavior may translate into millions of
additional aggressive acts, many of them lethal, across
the nation. Furthermore, there are few other variables
in the violence prediction area that account for sub-
stantially more variability. The size of the media vio-
lence effect is equal to or even larger than many public
health effects we as a society deem large, such as the
effects of condom use on HIV transmission or the
effects of passive smoking on lung cancer. Public
health policy has taken two directions: the develop-
ment of antiviolence interventions and the creation of
media industry policies that are designed either to
warn parents about violent media content or permit
parents to limit violence viewing.Media Violence and Behavior——— 485M-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 485