Third‐person perception and school violence

Abstract

The study is the first of its kind to study third‐person perception within the context of school violence. Linkages to the health psychology literature (optimistic bias) provide the basis for further understanding of adolescents’ perceptions of school violence and the influence of media violence in their lives. Results from a survey of 1,500 middle school and high school students suggest third‐person perception regarding media violence decreases with age, and is influenced by perceived reality of media violence, optimistic bias, and knowledge of real world youth violence.