READING 13
Exposure to Violent Media: The Effects of Songs with Violent Lyrics on Aggressive Thoughts and Feelingsby Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks (2003)
Please refer to the printed reader, Readings in Social Psychology 3/e, for the text of this article.
Overview
Five experiments examined effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings. Experiments 1, 3, 4 and 5 demonstrated that college students who heard a violent song felt more hostile than those who heard a similar but nonviolent song. Experiments 2–5 demonstrated a similar increase in aggressive thoughts. These effects replicated across songs and song types (e.g., rock, humorous, nonhumorous). Experiments 3–5 also demonstrated that trait hostility was positively related to state hostility but did not moderate the song lyric effects. Discussion centers on the potential role of lyric content on aggression in short-term settings, relation to catharsis and other media violence domains, development of aggressive personality, differences between long-term and short-term effects, and possible mitigating factors.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. According to Anderson et al., what are some of the important distinctions in considering the influence of different types of violent media, such as popular music, music videos, video games, and television?
2. The authors review correlational studies of music preference and aggressive behavior. For example, college students who prefer heavy metal and rap music report more hostility than students who prefer other genres. Recall the discussion of correlational research designs in Chapter 2—why would it be inappropriate to conclude that these studies demonstrate that violent music causes aggressive behavior? What are some alternative explanations for these correlational findings?
3. What similarities does the present research have to studies conducted by Chartrand and Bargh (1999; Reading 6) and Garcia et al. (2002; Reading 12)? Based on these three studies, what general conclusions can be drawn about the links between perception and behavior?
4. What implications do the present studies have for the idea of catharsis (Chapter 11)? Do these findings suggest that catharsis works as originally theorized? Why or why not?
5. What are the main findings of Studies 4 and 5 regarding the role played by humor in the relationship between song lyrics and listener aggression?
6. To what extent do you believe that these findings would generalize to other types of music lyrics? Would sexist or misogynist lyrics influence listeners’ attitudes towards women? Would racist lyrics affect racial attitudes? Does Chapter 11’s discussion of the influence of pornography provide any guidance for answering these questions?
Links For Further Investigation
As detailed in Chapter 11, the relationship between violent media and aggressive behavior is a controversial issue among parents, politicians, and researchers. For a site summarizing the debate regarding media and violence—including discussion of empirical research, government responses to violent media, educational interventions, and business ramifications—go to
Discourse on violence and the media is often marked by specific real-world events. For example, many point to “copy cat crimes,” in which criminals imitate the violence they see on television or in the movies, as proof of a direct link between media violence and violent behavior. For a list and analysis of several such recent crimes, see Regarding the specific topic of the present reading, the influence of song lyrics on behavior, the trial of heavy metal group Judas Priest is certainly a landmark event. In this case, the band was sued because a young man killed himself while listening to one of its songs, allegedly as a result of a subliminal pro-suicide message. You can read about this case at which includes an analysis of the role of expert scientific testimony during the trial.