Whenever a shocking and seemingly senseless crime occurs, pundits are quick to connect
the perpetrator’s actions to their consumption of violent entertainment. No medium, from the
literary to the musical and visual, is above condemnation. At the same time, artists and creators
insist that their products could not possibly influence anyone’s behaviour to such an extreme
degree. Psychological researchers then have the task of finding the truth between these two
polarized perspectives. Their work becomes more difficult with time, as the methods and genres
of media consumption increase. Thus, the purpose of this literary overview is to determine
whether a link exists between violent actions and media consumption, while also identifying …show more content…
The participants, if
they won a round during the CRT, had the option of playing a loud noise at their non-existent
Media and Behaviour 4
opponent through their headphones. The volume level chosen by participants indicated their
levels of aggression (Barthalow, Sestir, & Davis, 2005). Overall, the researchers found that
participants who had previously played a violent video game generally selected a high volume of
noise for their opponent to hear, even before the CRT had formally begun. They were therefore
more likely to engage in unprovoked aggression than their peers. Similarly, the participants who
had played a violent video game consistently selected louder volumes of noise for their
opponents than participants who played a non-violent video game. Furthermore, participants who
reported frequently playing violent video games responded aggressively during the CRT
regardless of what genre of game they had played immediately beforehand. This study therefore
suggests that the consumption of violent media in the form of video games has the potential …show more content…
Their findings, considered in sum, confirm the existence of a mild ingroup-empathy bias.
African-American participants in particular responded more strongly to both positive and
negative portrayals of Black people. The researchers concluded that their results may have been
affected by the overwhelming presence of White people in every kind of media, which perhaps
inhibited affective responses to the experimental images from both European- and African-
American participants.
Despite its limitations, this study suggests that perceived demographic similarity creates
empathy, particularly when participants do not consistently consume media where their in-group
appears. That said, similarity can extend beyond the physical. The degree to which media can
affect emotions and behaviour may also depend on its portrayal of characters who are
ideologically similar to the consumer.
Konijn, Bijvank, and Bushman (2007) wanted to determine whether adolescent boys who
identified strongly with violent video game protagonists and who played violent video games
themselves were more aggressive than their peers who did not identify with violent
the perpetrator’s actions to their consumption of violent entertainment. No medium, from the
literary to the musical and visual, is above condemnation. At the same time, artists and creators
insist that their products could not possibly influence anyone’s behaviour to such an extreme
degree. Psychological researchers then have the task of finding the truth between these two
polarized perspectives. Their work becomes more difficult with time, as the methods and genres
of media consumption increase. Thus, the purpose of this literary overview is to determine
whether a link exists between violent actions and media consumption, while also identifying …show more content…
The participants, if
they won a round during the CRT, had the option of playing a loud noise at their non-existent
Media and Behaviour 4
opponent through their headphones. The volume level chosen by participants indicated their
levels of aggression (Barthalow, Sestir, & Davis, 2005). Overall, the researchers found that
participants who had previously played a violent video game generally selected a high volume of
noise for their opponent to hear, even before the CRT had formally begun. They were therefore
more likely to engage in unprovoked aggression than their peers. Similarly, the participants who
had played a violent video game consistently selected louder volumes of noise for their
opponents than participants who played a non-violent video game. Furthermore, participants who
reported frequently playing violent video games responded aggressively during the CRT
regardless of what genre of game they had played immediately beforehand. This study therefore
suggests that the consumption of violent media in the form of video games has the potential …show more content…
Their findings, considered in sum, confirm the existence of a mild ingroup-empathy bias.
African-American participants in particular responded more strongly to both positive and
negative portrayals of Black people. The researchers concluded that their results may have been
affected by the overwhelming presence of White people in every kind of media, which perhaps
inhibited affective responses to the experimental images from both European- and African-
American participants.
Despite its limitations, this study suggests that perceived demographic similarity creates
empathy, particularly when participants do not consistently consume media where their in-group
appears. That said, similarity can extend beyond the physical. The degree to which media can
affect emotions and behaviour may also depend on its portrayal of characters who are
ideologically similar to the consumer.
Konijn, Bijvank, and Bushman (2007) wanted to determine whether adolescent boys who
identified strongly with violent video game protagonists and who played violent video games
themselves were more aggressive than their peers who did not identify with violent