Violent media use and aggression: Two longitudinal network studies

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Media Studies
• Social Network Analysis

Background:

• Violent media exposure is a known correlate of increased aggression.
• The potential for aggression to spread through social networks like a contagion is an emerging area of research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between violent media exposure and aggression.
• To examine if aggression spreads within social networks, akin to a contagious disease.
• To assess social influence and homophily in the context of media effects.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study design with two groups of first-year psychology students.
• Data collection occurred three times over one year via questionnaires.
• Measures included media exposure, aggression, personality, and social network relations.
• Statistical analyses included cross-sectional analysis and Siena analysis.

Main Results:

• Cross-sectional analyses yielded inconclusive results regarding the violent media-aggression link.
• Siena analysis found no significant evidence of homophily (similarity-based friendship selection).
• Siena analysis did not detect social influence (behavioral contagion between friends).

Conclusions:

• The study did not find evidence that aggression spreads through social networks in this sample.
• Limitations include small sample sizes and weak social ties, necessitating further research.
• Future studies with larger, more interconnected samples are required to fully explore the contagion model of media effects.