Dorothee Dickenberger

Why do aggressive movies make people aggressive? an attempt to explain short‐term effects of the depiction of violence on the observer

An explanation-approach within the frame of a universal and integrating theory of aggression is favored for understanding the effects of exposure to violence. Kornadts Motivation Theory of Aggression is used to generate several hypotheses concerning the effects of aggressive movies on a viewers expectancy-value-cognitions and these are tested in an experiment. The experiment suggests that aggressive stimulation is able to change aggression-related expectancy-value-cognitions in an aggression-facilitating direction. Based on these results, an attempt is made to explain increases in the aggression of viewers in terms of the Motivation Theory of Aggression.