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Article Excerpt
The daily news is filled with stories of conflict. And our TV sitcom "entertainment" is almost always based on conflict and people who handle it poorly. In fact much of the so-called "humor" in those sitcoms is nothing more than a series of destructive, damaging putdowns. As a result, I don't watch much of it.
--Dr. Alan Zimmerman (2006), motivational speaker
Many Americans may not posses the same restraint, or perhaps awareness, as Dr. Zimmerman. According to Nielsen Media Research, the average American spent about 4.5 hours per day, and the average household over 8 hours per day, watching television during the 2004-05 season (Consoli, 2005). If television programming is indeed replete with the kind of depictions referred to above, there may well be cause for concern.
Beginning in the 1960s not long after the advent of television, researchers have examined television violence and its effect on viewers. Other forms of aggression, such as indirect or verbal, have received relatively scant attention, perhaps because of the more overt nature of physical aggression and its demonstratable effect on children (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963a). However, the impact of these more subtle forms of aggression may be even more long lasting and harmful than those of physical aggression. An example would be the child who is teased (verbal aggression) about his/her physical appearance and then suffers a lifetime of psychological repercussions (Infante & Wigley, 1986).
Theoretically the media, especially television, have been shown to be an important source for learning behaviors and cultivating viewers' attitudes and perceptions. According to social learning/social cognitive theory, behaviors modeled on television such as aggression are learned by viewers, particularly when the aggression is rewarded, as is often the case on television (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963b; Potter & Ware, 1987). Gerbner's cultivation theory posits that television cultivates a TV view of reality, especially among heavy viewers (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, & Shanahan, 2002). So, for example, heavy viewers of television and its plethora of violence are more likely to perceive the real world as a more dangerous place than lighter viewers (Gerbner et al., 2002). Short-term effects of exposure to violent depictions are accounted for by Berkowitz's priming process, which posits that observed aggression activates certain aggressive scripts or schemas in one's memory, thereby making their subsequent utilization more likely, (Berkowitz, 1984).
Considering the recent emergence of new programming formats during primetime network television such as news magazine and reality shows, as well as the relative omission of verbal and indirect aggression in previous studies, the intent of this study is to examine aggressive behavior, in its various forms, on primetime network television. Hopefully this will contribute to a greater awareness of the overall extent of televised aggression and the potential cumulative effect on viewers.
Literature Review
A useful topology for studying aggression in the media is suggested by Coyne and Archer (2004) who distinguish between direct (verbal and physical) and indirect forms of aggression, the primary difference being that direct aggression is face-to-face while indirect is typically carried out behind the target's back. In studies of aggression in real life, researchers have consistently found men to be more directly aggressive than females (Richardson & Green, 1999). Research on indirect aggression has been less conclusive; however studies finding differences have reported more prevalence among females than males (Coyne, Archer, & Eslea, 2004; Osterman et al., 1998).
Verbal Aggression
Infante and Rancer (1996) define verbal aggression as an attack on the self-concept of another in order to inflict psychological pain, which could include depression, humiliation, or other negative feelings. Examples of verbal aggression include insults, yelling or arguing, threats, sarcasm and name calling (Coyne & Archer, 2004; Infante & Wigley, 1986). Infante and his colleagues have proposed a model in which verbal aggression serves as a precursor to physical violence (Infante, Chandler, & Rudd, 1989). In a study designed to demonstrate this relationship, Infante et al. found that people involved in physically abusive relationships were also more likely to report using verbal aggression.
One obvious place verbal aggression may be learned is the media. When researchers have accounted for verbal aggression in content analyses of the media (which has not been very often), it has been found in relatively large quantities. For example, Greenberg, Edison, Korzenny, Fernanadez-Collado, and Atkin (1980) examined verbal aggression, defined as hostility, rejection or threats, during primetime network programming from 1975 to 1978 and found from 19 to 25 verbally aggressive instances per hour, about twice that of physical aggression. While no sex differences were reported, situation comedies contained the most verbal aggression. Comparable findings were reported by Glascock (2001) with acts of verbal aggression (15 per show) more than doubling those of physical aggression (6 per show). In a longitudinal study (1950-2000), Scharrer (2001) found an increase in the number of verbal putdowns of the sitcom father by the sitcom mother. Scharrer (2001) also found that the total number of putdowns between the sitcom mother and father to have increased over the time period examined. Given the relationship previously found between sitcoms and verbal aggression, this would indicate that over the years verbal aggression may have increased during prime time.
Research into the effects of verbally aggressive depictions in the media has focused on rap and heavy metal music, genres that have been criticized for their sexually violent lyrics (Ballard & Coates, 1995; Barongan & Hall, 1995; Rubin, West, & Mitchell, 2001; St. Lawrence & Joyner, 1991). Listening to violent rock music has been found to increase subjects' hostility and aggressive thoughts (Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003) as...
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