Citation

Black SL, Bevan S. Aggressive Behav. 1992; 18(1): 37-45.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Research on the effects of violence depicted in films shown in movie theatres has been neglected, although there are reasons to believe such presentations may be particularly salient for the viewer. In the present stud, adult movie-goers attending commercial showings of a violent or non-violent movie responded to a questionnaire consisting of two scales of the Buss-Durkee aggression inventory, either before or after viewing the film. No sex differences in response were observed. The audience attending the violent film had significantly higher aggression scores than the audience attending the non-violent film, both before and after viewing. Also, those attending the violent film showed a significant increase in aggression scores, while those at the non-violent film did not. The results demonstrate that audiences who attend violent films have an initially higher level of aggressivity which is heightened after exposure to the violent film. Thus, in order to achieve ecological validity in research on film violence, the characteristics of the audience normally exposed to such films must be taken into consideration. The results also provide support for the hypothesis that attendance at a violent film promotes aggressive tendencies.