|
Abstract
|
This review examines the current state of research on the weapons effect, a phenomenon in which the mere presence of weapons is presumed to cause people to behave more aggressively. The General Aggression Model (GAM) is often used to explain how and why the weapons effect occurs. Hence research on the extent to which weapons prime cognitive and appraisal processes is considered, based on findings from recent meta-analytic research.
FINDINGS from classic and contemporary studies offer mixed support for the weapons effect. Implications for theory and future research will be discussed.
Berkowitz and LePage (1967) coined the term "the weapons effect" in their classic article that first demonstrated that the mere presence of weapons could increase aggressive behavior. In that experiment, male college students were paired with a partner (actually a confederate) in what was ostensibly an essay rating task. Participants were led to believe that the "ratings" were the number of electric shocks given to their partner, with more electric shocks equating a more negative evaluation. First, the partner evaluated the participants' essays with either one electric shock (low provocation condition) or seven electric shocks (high provocation condition). When it was the participants' turn to evaluate their partner, they were led into a control room that contained either rifles or badminton racquets that were presumably left behind by mistake from a previous experiment. There was also a true control condition in which no objects were present in the control room. Berkowitz and LePage (1967) found that highly provoked participants who were also exposed to weapons gave the most electric shocks, showing more aggression than participants in any of the other conditions...
Language: en |