Majorities of media researchers, parents and pediatricians agree that exposure to violent media can increase aggression in children, according to a new US study.
The study found that 66 per cent of researchers, 67 per cent of parents and 90 per cent of pediatricians agree or strongly agree that violent video games can increase aggressive behaviour among children.
Majorities of these groups also believed that children's aggressive behaviour can be fuelled by viewing violent video games, movies, TV programmes, and Internet sites.
However, fewer than half agreed that violent comic books or literature would have such harmful effects on children.
"Some people claim there is no consensus about whether violent media can increase aggression in children, but this study shows that there is consensus," said Brad Bushman, lead author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University.
"As in most areas of research, there is not complete agreement. But we found the overwhelming majority of media researchers, parents and pediatricians agree that violent media is harmful to children," he said.
Bushman noted that while 66 per cent of researchers agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games increased aggression, only 17 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remaining 17 per cent were undecided.
"That means that among researchers who have an opinion, eight out of 10 agree that violent games increase aggression," Bushman said.
The researchers surveyed 371 media psychologists and communication scientists from three professional organisations; 92 members of the Council on Communication and Media of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and a nationally representative sample of 268 American parents.
The study also found there was considerable disagreement among researchers, pediatricians and parents as to whether media violence was a major factor in real-life violence.
That finding is not surprising, Bushman said, but it underscores one of the important implications of this study.
"With the general consensus about the harmful effects of media violence, it may seem surprising that some people still question the effects of violent media on aggression," Bushman said.
"One important reason is that people don't distinguish between aggression and violence," he said.
Violent acts are rare, he said, and are caused by many factors acting together.
"You cannot predict a shooting rampage just based on exposure to violent media or any other single factor," Bushman said.
But the evidence is clear, he said, that exposure to violent media can predict less-serious forms of aggression.
The study appears in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
