Social aggression on television and its relationship to children's aggression in the classroom

Nicole Martins, Barbara J. Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A survey was conducted with over 500 children in grades K-5 to examine whether exposure to socially aggressive content was related to children's use of social aggression. The results of the survey revealed a significant relationship between exposure to televised social aggression and increased social aggression at school, but only for girls and not for boys. Although this relationship was dependent on the sex of the child, the study is the first to provide evidence that viewing social aggression on television is related to an increased tendency for elementary school children to perpetrate such behaviors in the classroom. The findings are discussed in terms of social cognitive theory and information processing theory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)48-71
Number of pages24
JournalHuman Communication Research
Volume38
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Anthropology
  • Linguistics and Language

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