Violent comic books and judgments of relational aggression.

Full Abstract

This study investigated the effects of reading extremely violent versus mildly violent comic books on the interpretation of relational provocation situations. One hundred and seventeen introductory psychology students read either an extremely violent comic book or a mildly violent comic book. After reading the comic books, participants read five hypothetical stories in which a child, caused a relationally aggressive event to occur to another child, but the intent of the provocateur was ambiguous. After each story, participants were asked a series of questions about the provocateur's intent; potential retaliation toward the provocateur; and the provocateur's emotional state. Responses were coded in terms of amount of negative and violent content. Results indicated that participants reading the extremely violent comic books ascribed more hostile intent to the provocateur, suggested more retaliation toward the provocateur, and attributed a more negative emotional state to the provocateur than participants reading the mildly violent comic book. These data suggest that social information processing of relationally aggressive situations is influenced by violent comic books, even if the comic books do not contain themes of relational aggression.

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Author information

Author/s: Kirsh, Steven J (SJ); Olczak, Paul V (PV);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, State University of New York-Geneseo, 14454, USA. kirsh(-atsign-)geneseo.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Violence and victims (Violence Vict), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Jun; vol 17 (issue 3) : pp 373-80

Dates: Created 2002/07/09; Completed 2003/02/10; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 12102059, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Aggression - psychology
Agonistic Behavior
Cartoons as Topic
Female
Hostility
Humans

Interpersonal Relations
Judgment
Male
Projection
Reading
Social Perception
Students - psychology
Violence - psychology

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