PsychologicalReports, 1992, 70, 137-138. O Psychological Reports 1992
TELEVISION VIEWING, AGGRESSION, A N D ETHNICITY ' MARY B. HARRIS University o j New Mexico Summary.-For 416 college students, quesuoned about their experiences with aggression and televis~onviewing, only very weak correlations between preference For violent shows and aggression were observed. Black males watched significantly more television than other respondents. These findings suggest that the frequently reported correlation between viewing televised violence and aggression may not appear when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults.
Although it is generally conceded that viewing television violence is associated with subsequent aggression (Centerwall, 1989a, 198913; Freedman, 1984, 1986; Friedrich-Cofer & Huston, 1986; Liebert, 1986), much of the research has been done with children and young adolescents (Centerwall, 1989a) rather than adults and has not focused on ethnic differences in viewing. As part of a questionnaire dealing with experiences of aggression, 416 college students, with a mean and median age of 19 years, 45% of whom were male and 6% black, were asked to indicate how many hours per week they spent watching television and what their three favorite television shows were. Each of these shows was given a violence rating from 0 (no violence) to 2 (high violence), based primarily on evaluations by the National Coalition on Television Violence (1989). Where ratings of a show were not available, descriptions were obtained from at least two regular viewers and coding was based on these descriptions. Two 2 x 2 analyses of variance were done for the two dependent measures of time spent watchng and mean violence ratings of their favorite shows. These measures were not significantly correlated for any of the four sex by ethnicity subgroups. There were no significant main or interaction effects for rated violence, with subgroup means ranging from .28 to .40 and SDs ranging from .34 to .60. However, the analysis of hours watched yielded significant main effects for sex (F,,,,, = 5.81), ethnicity (F,,,,, = 5.54), and their interaction (F,,,,, = 6.53, all ps< .05). A Scheffk post hoe comparison indicated that black men watched significantly more television each week (M = 15.27 hr., SD = 11.96) than white men (M= 7.88, S D = 7.31), black women (M = 6.33, SD = 3.31), or white women (M = 6.61, SD = 6.61; F,,,,, = 14.54, p < .01). Pearson product-moment correlations were computed for each subgroup between both measures of television viewing and a self-report measure of the 'Request reprints From Mary B. Harris, Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1266.
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number of different aggressive acts subjects had directed against males, females, or anyone since the age of 12 (Harris, in press). Although there were significant sex differences on the aggression measures (Harris, in press), none of the correlations between aggression and television viewing was statistically significant. The correlation between mean violence of favorite shows and total aggression just missed significance for black females (r,, = .57, p c . 0 5 ) . Combining across sex and ethnicity of subject, mean violence was weakly but significantly correlated with aggression against males (r,,, = .16, p < .01) and total aggression (r,,, = .12, p < .05). A lack of sensitivity and reliability of the measures, all of which depended on self-report, may have somewhat reduced the power of the analyses. Nevertheless, the present results suggest that television watching is not always significantly correlated with aggression when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults (Centerwd, 1989a). They also suggest that preference for watching television may vary depending on the gender and ethnicity of the viewer, consistent with other research showing that black chddren watch substantially more television than do white children (Tangney & Feshbach, 1988) and that men watch significantly more than do women (Anderson, Lorch, Field, Collins, & Nathan, 1986). REFERENCES ANDERSON, D. R., LORCH,E. P,FIELD,D. E., COWS, P A,, & NATHAN,J. G. (1986) Television viewing at home: age trends in visual attention and time with TV. Child Deuelopment, 57, 1024-1033. CENTERWW,B. S. (1989a) Exposure to television as a cause of violence. In G. Comstock (Ed.), Public communication and behavior. Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 1-58. CENTERWW,B. S. (1989b) Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence. American Journal of Epidemiology, 129, 643-652. FREEDMAN, J. L. (1984) Effects of television violence on aggressiveness. Psychological Bullelin, 96, 227-246. FREEDMAN, J. L. (1986) Television violence and aggression: a rejoinder. Psychological Bulktin, 100. 372-378. FRIEDRICH-COFER, L., & HUSTON,A. C. (1986) Television violence and aggression: the debate continues. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 364-371. H m s , M. B. (in press) Sex, race and experiences of aggression. Aggressive Behavior. LIEBERT,R. M . (1986) Effects of television on children and adolescents. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 7, 43-48. ON TELEVISION VIOLENCE. (1989) TV monitoring results. NCTV News, lO(7NATIONAL COALITION 81, 8-9. TANGNEY, J. P., & FESHBACH, S. (1988) Children's television-viewing frequency: individual differences and demographic correlates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulktin, 14, 145158.
Accepted December 27, 1991.
TELEVISION VIEWING, AGGRESSION, A N D ETHNICITY ' MARY B. HARRIS University o j New Mexico Summary.-For 416 college students, quesuoned about their experiences with aggression and televis~onviewing, only very weak correlations between preference For violent shows and aggression were observed. Black males watched significantly more television than other respondents. These findings suggest that the frequently reported correlation between viewing televised violence and aggression may not appear when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults.
Although it is generally conceded that viewing television violence is associated with subsequent aggression (Centerwall, 1989a, 198913; Freedman, 1984, 1986; Friedrich-Cofer & Huston, 1986; Liebert, 1986), much of the research has been done with children and young adolescents (Centerwall, 1989a) rather than adults and has not focused on ethnic differences in viewing. As part of a questionnaire dealing with experiences of aggression, 416 college students, with a mean and median age of 19 years, 45% of whom were male and 6% black, were asked to indicate how many hours per week they spent watching television and what their three favorite television shows were. Each of these shows was given a violence rating from 0 (no violence) to 2 (high violence), based primarily on evaluations by the National Coalition on Television Violence (1989). Where ratings of a show were not available, descriptions were obtained from at least two regular viewers and coding was based on these descriptions. Two 2 x 2 analyses of variance were done for the two dependent measures of time spent watchng and mean violence ratings of their favorite shows. These measures were not significantly correlated for any of the four sex by ethnicity subgroups. There were no significant main or interaction effects for rated violence, with subgroup means ranging from .28 to .40 and SDs ranging from .34 to .60. However, the analysis of hours watched yielded significant main effects for sex (F,,,,, = 5.81), ethnicity (F,,,,, = 5.54), and their interaction (F,,,,, = 6.53, all ps< .05). A Scheffk post hoe comparison indicated that black men watched significantly more television each week (M = 15.27 hr., SD = 11.96) than white men (M= 7.88, S D = 7.31), black women (M = 6.33, SD = 3.31), or white women (M = 6.61, SD = 6.61; F,,,,, = 14.54, p < .01). Pearson product-moment correlations were computed for each subgroup between both measures of television viewing and a self-report measure of the 'Request reprints From Mary B. Harris, Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1266.
138
M. B. HARRIS
number of different aggressive acts subjects had directed against males, females, or anyone since the age of 12 (Harris, in press). Although there were significant sex differences on the aggression measures (Harris, in press), none of the correlations between aggression and television viewing was statistically significant. The correlation between mean violence of favorite shows and total aggression just missed significance for black females (r,, = .57, p c . 0 5 ) . Combining across sex and ethnicity of subject, mean violence was weakly but significantly correlated with aggression against males (r,,, = .16, p < .01) and total aggression (r,,, = .12, p < .05). A lack of sensitivity and reliability of the measures, all of which depended on self-report, may have somewhat reduced the power of the analyses. Nevertheless, the present results suggest that television watching is not always significantly correlated with aggression when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults (Centerwd, 1989a). They also suggest that preference for watching television may vary depending on the gender and ethnicity of the viewer, consistent with other research showing that black chddren watch substantially more television than do white children (Tangney & Feshbach, 1988) and that men watch significantly more than do women (Anderson, Lorch, Field, Collins, & Nathan, 1986). REFERENCES ANDERSON, D. R., LORCH,E. P,FIELD,D. E., COWS, P A,, & NATHAN,J. G. (1986) Television viewing at home: age trends in visual attention and time with TV. Child Deuelopment, 57, 1024-1033. CENTERWW,B. S. (1989a) Exposure to television as a cause of violence. In G. Comstock (Ed.), Public communication and behavior. Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 1-58. CENTERWW,B. S. (1989b) Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence. American Journal of Epidemiology, 129, 643-652. FREEDMAN, J. L. (1984) Effects of television violence on aggressiveness. Psychological Bullelin, 96, 227-246. FREEDMAN, J. L. (1986) Television violence and aggression: a rejoinder. Psychological Bulktin, 100. 372-378. FRIEDRICH-COFER, L., & HUSTON,A. C. (1986) Television violence and aggression: the debate continues. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 364-371. H m s , M. B. (in press) Sex, race and experiences of aggression. Aggressive Behavior. LIEBERT,R. M . (1986) Effects of television on children and adolescents. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 7, 43-48. ON TELEVISION VIOLENCE. (1989) TV monitoring results. NCTV News, lO(7NATIONAL COALITION 81, 8-9. TANGNEY, J. P., & FESHBACH, S. (1988) Children's television-viewing frequency: individual differences and demographic correlates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulktin, 14, 145158.
Accepted December 27, 1991.
