Does real-life violence in the media predict aggressive behavior?

What is it about?

How does on-screen violence affect the behavior of people who watch it? There are many studies of fictional and video game violence, but very few that examine real-life violence. We utilize a pre-registered experiment to test the effects of both fictional and real-life violence. The findings show that real-life violence may actually inhibit aggressive behavior, not increase it.

Featured Image

Photo by Bret Kavanaugh on Unsplash

Photo by Bret Kavanaugh on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Individuals today have unprecedented access to graphic images and videos of real-life violence. But we know little about how exposure to these images affects individuals' behavior. This experiment suggests that watching real violence in the media does not increase -- and may actually decrease -- aggressive behavior.