AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AND EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT VIDEO

GAMES

-CULTIVATION THEORY

Josh Kane & Stefan Liotchev

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Violence has become a cause of concern between college students.

Controversy whether violent video games are a contributor to aggressive behavior.

Through the study we intend to see whether violent video games play or don’t play a role in contributing to violent behavior.

DEFINITION OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Behavior that is unreasonable: yelling at someone, physically harming yourself or others, violent behavior that will get you arrested.

CULTIVATION THEORY

Developed in the 1970’s, as a research project to study how watching TV may influence viewer’s idea of how the everyday life is like. This project later became, The Cultivation theory

Developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross Professors at the University of Pennsylvania

The cultivation theory was developed to track “cultivated” effects on television viewers

CULTIVATION THEORY

The main hypothesis explored in the theory is those who spend more time watching television are more likely to perceive the real world in ways that reflect the most common and reoccurring messages of the television world, compared to those who watch less TV. (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, Shanahan,

2002)

The theory assumes media to have a long-term passive effects on its viewers. Effects start off small, but will gradually have compound effects.

CULTIVATION THEORY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw9DsOA1Y-w

CULTIVATION THEORY

Gerbner and Gross argue that religion or education had previously been greater influences on social trends.

Now…Television is the main source of story-telling in human society. Transmitting the most broadly shared images

and messages in history

“Repetitive pattern of television’s mass-produced messages and images forms the mainstream of a common symbolic environment” -George Gerber

CULTIVATION THEORY

Those who watched 4 or more hours a day are labeled; Heavy Viewers

Those who watched 4 or more hours a day are labeled; Light Viewers

Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence, and therefore are effects by the Mean World Syndrome

An idea that purposes the world is meaner than it actually is.

CULTIVATION THEORY

Gerbner purposes that the effects are “not immediate”. Rather it “continuously nurtures”, and shapes viewer’s perception of the world around them.

Cultivation Theory argues that computer and video games have long-term gradual effects.

These effects can be small, gradual, indirect, cumulative, and significant.

CULTIVATION THEORY

Cultivation theory in its most basic form, suggests that exposures to television, over time, finely “cultivates” viewer’s perceptions of reality.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Past research shows very little to no correlation between playing video games and aggressive behavior.

Viewing real-life violence is more likely to contribute to aggressive behavior

Violent games such as Doom and Mortal Kombat are set in fantasy worlds. (Sherry, 2001)

LITERATURE REVIEW…CONTINUED

There are other factors that contribute to aggressive behavior:

Demographics: Non-white, poor, less educated=More likely

to be aggressive.

White, wealthy/middle class, college education=Less likely to be aggressive (Sherry, 2001)

LITERATURE REVIEW

There is also research that supports violent video games cause aggressive behavior:

If you played 13 hours or more per week, more likely to be aggressive than someone of same age and demographics that doesn’t play video games

LITERATURE REVIEW

1999 Columbine High School shooting may have been caused by violent video games.

Social Learning Theory (Uhlman & Swanson, 2003)

(Literature review on the impact of playing violent video games on aggression, 2010).

RESEARCH QUESTION

Does a person’s gender (IV) have an effect on how violent video games cause the individuals to behave (DV)?

HYPOTHESES

o Hypothesis #1: Males (IV) are more likely to exert aggressive behavior (DV) after playing violent video games than females (IV) if there is any effect at all.

o Hypothesis #2: Excessive exposure to violent video games alone (IV) does not increase the probability of college students exerting aggressive/violent behavior (DV).

METHODOLOGY

To determine whether or not there is a direct relationship (conceptual definition), we plan to measure aggression in college students compared to the amount of time they spend playing video games (operational definition)

50 Queens students of various demographics were surveyed.

Survey consists of multiple choice, scales, demographics, and open-ended.

METHODOLOGY…CONTINUED

Convenience sample

Face to Face method

Non probability

Went to dorms, dining hall, and Trexler to distribute questionnaires.

Pilot study to test out questions before

running the actual study. Consisted of four respondents: two male, two female

FINDINGS

29 males and 21 females were surveyed

Average age was 20.6

Males on average play 2.9 hours a day

Females on average play 1.2 hours a day

FINDINGS

45% of females were more likely to be accepting of violence after playing a violent video game.26% of males were more likely to be accepting of violence after playing.11% of females say they become aggressive after playing.5% of males become aggressive after playing2% of females say they are more likely to commit a violent act (crime) after playing4% of males say they are more likely to commit a violent act (crime). All 50 respondents answered that males were more likely to become aggressive after playing violent video games

FINDINGS

From the results we can not conclude that gender has an effect on how violent video games cause the individual to behave.

Both hypotheses were supported from the results.

DISCUSSION

According to our results they negate what the cultivation theory says.

Our results support the literature that stated violent video games don’t have an effect on aggressive behavior

LIMITATIONS

With the use of non-probability sampling, the Queens population did not have an equal chance of being selected.

Age Respondent limitation. Human variation - Everyone is different.  Violence

and aggression are so difficult to define.  What may be considered an aggressive action for one person, will not be considered so for another.  Also, some may have a physical reaction with aggressive feelings and others may not, so more difficulties are presented in that video games may have an effect without a physical representation of it.

RECOMMENDATIONS

One way of solving the human variation problem is to attain a large test group which could be representative of everyone.

Sample larger group and use probability sampling.

Gather information from variety of age, race, and gender.