Television and Antisocial Behavior: Field Experiments

Book excerpt: Do antisocial acts portrayed on television lead to antisocial acts in viewers? The long-standing debate on this important questions has, up to now, been conducted in something of a vacuum- a vacuum caused by the lack of crucial experimental evidence. This book reports a pioneering study in which the experimental variable- the content of television programming itself. Through the cooperation of a major television network, the investigators were able to produce and air three versions- with differing antisocial content- of an episode of the popular prime time program, Medical Center. They then carried out a series of highly original field experiments designed to assess the effects of the antisocial elements in the programs on the subject population. This book is a clear and reasoned report of the history, design, and results of this research. The book will be of great interest and value to social psychologists, sociologists, mass communications and media researchers, those professionally involved in broadcasting, and many others.