Desensitization to portrayals of real-life aggression as a function of television violence.

In two separate experiments, the hypothesis that exposure to violence in the context of television drama decreases subjects' emotional responsivity to portrayals of real-life aggression was tested. Subjects were shown either an excerpt from a violent police drama or a segment of an exciting but nonviolent volley-ball game before watching a videotaped scene of real aggression. Emotionality was measured by changes in skin resistance which was measured continuously throughout the session. In Experiment 1, subjects were 8- to 10-year-old children and the real aggression was a film of an argument and fight between two preschoolers. In Experiment 2, college students participated and reactions to real aggression were measured while subjects watched scenes from news films of the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With the exception of adult females, subjects who previously had viewed the aggression drama were less aroused by the scenes of real aggression than were subjects who had seen the control film. Further support for the hypothesis was provided by the finding that for most groups of subjects, the amount of television violence normally viewed was negatively related to responsivity while viewing aggression. VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Thomas et al. was to test the hypothesis that exposure to violence within a television drama would decrease subjects' emotional response to real-life violence. METHODOLOGY: The study, which was conducted 1976, involved two experiments. The first experiment involved 44 subjects, 28 boys and 16 girls, ranging in age from 8 to 10 years whose parents answered advertisements in newspapers to participate. The experimenters were two white, male undergraduate students at the local university where the experiments took place. The subjects were told that they would be asked to watch some TV; and it was explained further to the parents who signed a consent form with the agreement that they could rescind permission any time during the experiment. During the entire experiment, the subjects' physiological responses were monitored by a Narco-Biosystems Physiograph Four-A with a galvanic skin response (GSR). The subjects, who were tested individually, first viewed a television clip on yachting; then half of the subjects watched excerpts from a violent television police series (S.W.A.T.) while the other half (control group) watched an exciting volleyball championship. Then, each subject was asked by the experimenter to watch on the television monitor some preschoolers in a nearby room whom the experimenter was supposed to be watching. The experimenter then left the room and the subjects watched a videotape of preschoolers in a playroom who became increasingly violent, aggressive and out of control with each other. The experiment was explained to the subjects afterwards; and they were asked to fill out a questionnaire which asked them what television shows, currently broadcasted, they watched on a regular basis. The shows had been independently rated for violence (on a scale from 1 to 10) by 52 undergraduate students, both male and female. This experiment utilized a 2 X 2 factorial design with the variables of treatment condition (violent film, control film) and the sex of the subjects. Percentages and analysis of variance were utilized statistically. The second experiment involved 59 undergraduate subjects, 30 female and 29 male, who volunteered to participate for credit for an introductory level psychology class. The experimenter was a white female graduate student. A similar design to experiment 1 was used with a few variations. Instead of watching the preschoolers, these subjects were shown the news coverage of the riots outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968. These subjects were also given a questionnaire immediately after viewing this footage asking about their feelings and attitudes about the violence they witnessed. A 2 X 2 factorial design similar to experiment 1 was used. Percentages and analysis of variance were the statistical techniques utilized. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: In experiment 1, the GSR scores of the children were used to measure their emotionality during the experiment. There was no significant differences between the GSR scores on the basis of sex or viewing groups when watching the police show or the volleyball game. These results were important in that this showed that there was a similar level of arousal before watching the aggressive preschoolers. Subjects who had previously watched the police show were significantly less responsive to the aggressive preschoolers than the control group (p AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors suggested the need for research linking a decreased sensitivity to violence to acting out violent behavior. They also stressed the need for both further attitudinal and physiological studies observing covert reactions to watching violence. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - 1970s KW - Exposure to Violence KW - Desensitization KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Television Viewing KW - Television Violence KW - Aggression Effects KW - Child Witness KW - Late Childhood KW - Middle Childhood KW - Adult Witness KW - College Student Research KW - Emotional Response Language: en