Affinity for violent television and approval of violent behavior in relation to television exposure.

Abstract

There is considerable evidence of change in violent behavior as a function of viewing violent televised programs (1, 2, 4, 5, 8 ) . However, the relationship between exposure to television and attitudes toward violence has been minimally examined ( 3 ) . The present investigation attempted to delineate specific relationships in this area. Considering that most television programs are replete with violent content ( 2 ) , it was hypothesized that exposure to television correlates positively with approval of violent behavior and correlates positively with preference for violent programs. Fifty white male college smdents (M = 19.5 yr.) were randomly chosen from an introductory psychology dass and were asked to fill out a questionnaire, composed of the Approval of Violent Behavior Scale (G), the Preference for Violent Television Scale ( 7 ) and various dummy questions on American foreign pol iq (reliability and validiry measures are currently unavailable as the measures are relatively new). Subjects were divided into four groups, according to their report of daily television exposure: No viewing (0 min., n = 12) ; low exposure (1/59 rnin., n = 1 2 ) ; moderate viewing (60/119 min., n = 14); and high exposure (120 min. or more, n = 12) . A significant difference among the four groups in approval of violent behavior was indicated by an analysis of variance (K .U = 8.72, p < .001). A significant high positive Pearson correlation between daily exposure and approval scores was .84 ( p < ,001). There was also a significant difference among groups in preference for violent television (F3.40 = 4.48, < .01) as well as a significant positive correlation between approval and preference scores ( r = .79, p < .05). Consistent with previous research indicating behavioral modification as a function of violent exposure (1, 2, 4, 5, 8 ) , the present study demonstrated attitudinal differences as well. While previous work has focused on behavioral measures, these results suggest inquiries must also assess attitudinal indices. Cross-validation after standardization of these measures is needed.