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Media Violence, Antisocial Behavior, and the Social Consequences of Small Effects
Author(s) -
Rosenthal Robert
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1986.tb00247.x
Subject(s) - psychology , intervention (counseling) , antisocial personality disorder , developmental psychology , criminal behavior , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , variance (accounting) , suicide prevention , social psychology , medical emergency , psychiatry , medicine , economics , accounting
This paper shows in practical, quantitative, yet intuitive terms just what the social consequences are likely to be of the “small effects” typically found in research on media violence and antisocial behavior. Estimates are provided for how well we can predict (a) adult antisocial behavior from childhood antisocial behavior; (b) current antisocial behavior from current exposure to media violence; (c) subsequent antisocial behavior from earlier exposure to media violence, adjusting for earlier levels of antisocial behavior; and (d) how much we can decrease antisocial behavior by means of special intervention. Although proportions of variance accounted for appeared low, the practical consequences associated with these estimates were found to be substantial.