From exposure to identification: violent Malayalam cinema, aggression, and empathy in Malayali youth

With the increasing availability of violent films as easily accessible media on mobile devices and streaming platforms, some youth are increasingly worried about the psychological links between violent films and youth. The present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between exposure to violent Malayalam movies, identification with violent characters and aggression and empathy among young Malayalam and their gender differences. Self-report measures of violent-cinema exposure and character identification were completed by a sample of 412 participants (214 female, 198 male; aged 18-24) along with measures of aggression (Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire) and empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index; perspective-taking and empathic concern subscales). Exposure was positively associated with identification (r = 0.46) and aggression (r = 0.32) and negatively associated with perspective taking (r = -0.18) and empathic concern (r = -0.15) when controlling for age and general media use in the hierarchical regression analysis. The identification was significantly predicted by exposure (β = 0.45, R ² = 0.21). In the aggression model, exposure was positively related to aggression at Step 1 (β = 0.28, R ² = 0.14), but the exposure coefficient was reduced (but not eliminated) by identification in the model at Step 2 (β = 0.15, ΔR ² = 0.12, R ² = 0.26). Exposure coefficients for perspective taking (β = -0.33) and empathic concern (β = -0.29) were also not significant for empathy, as was the case for identification. The Identification × Gender interaction predicting aggression was significant (β = 0.11), suggesting that the relationship between identification and aggression was stronger in men than in women. Since the design is a cross-sectional design, the patterns are considered as associations, not as evidence of a mediational pathway; the theoretical and practical implications are discussed accordingly.