Convergent and Divergent Social Cues Effects of Televised Aggression on Children.

Research assessing the impact of consistently negative motivations versus mixed negative and positive motivations for a televised character's aggressive behavior and the consequences on children's subsequent behavior is provided. This study is also reported in related document SO 008 573. Second and sixth graders viewed one of two edited versions of an aggressive television program: (1) one in which scenes relevant to motives and consequences were clearly negative, and (2) one in which the aggressor sometimes appeared negative and positive. There were nonaggressive control programs at each age. Random subgroups of children responded to an indication of willingness to hurt or help a fictitious other child, while other random subgroups responded to a paper-and-pencil instrument employing both aggressive and nonaggressive response alternatives to hypothetical situations. The results indicate that children who watched the program with mixed character motivations are more aggressive. Therefore, the effects of aggression on television are not only modified by motives and consequences in the program, but also depend on their uniformity. (Author/DE)