Viewers' ratings of violence presented in justified and unjustified contexts

Viewers' rating of violence were investigated in an independent groups design using 147 undergraduate students. A 10-min. film clip was introduced to one group (n = 77) to provide justification for the violent events. The second group (n = 70) acted as a control with no justification given for the violence. Viewers of the justified violence rated that violence as less extreme, and their interest and involvement in the program significantly lower than viewers in the unjustified violence condition. Pre- to posttest increases in anger were small and no significant difference was found between the two groups. These results have important implications for reports of violence in the media.