Viewing Movie Violence & Interest in Guns

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

104 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2015-07-15

Study Completion Date

2016-01-01

Brief Summary

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More American children die by accidental gun use than children in other developed countries. One factor that can influence children's interest in guns is exposure to media containing guns. The objective of this study is to test whether children who see a movie containing guns will handle a real gun longer and will pull the trigger more times than children who see the same movie without guns.

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Detailed Description

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A recent analysis of top selling films found that the depiction of guns in violent scenes in PG-13 films that target youth has increased from the level of G and PG files in 1985 when the rating was introduced, to the level of R films by 2005, to exceed the level of R films since 2012. By definition, a PG-13 movie is supposed to have less violence than an R-rated movie. The Motion Picture Association of America says on its website that the violence in a PG-13 movie "does not reach the restricted R category." Our study shows that it does. By including guns in violent scenes, film producers may be inadvertently increasing aggression in youth via a weapons effect. This experiment directly tests this hypothesis.

Conditions

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Psychology, Social Adolescent Behavior

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Participants are randomly assigned to watch a movie containing guns, or a movie not containing guns.

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

Participants did not know which condition they were in. Participants' parents were aware of the deception (hidden gun) and what condition their children were in (with or without guns). Research personnel knew conditions as well. Research assistants who transcribed recorded laboratory sessions did not know what condition they were coding (eg. what type of movie participants watched)

Study Groups

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Experimental Condition

Intervention was guns in movies. Participants in this condition viewed a movie with guns, as it was filmed and distributed. The actual scenes in the movie (National Treasure or The Rocketeer) was not edited, but the same scenes were used as the Experimental Condition Intervention is m

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Movies with Guns

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants in this arm viewed movies (National Treasure, The Rocketeer) without guns. The movies, rated PG, were edited to remove guns from the scenes

Control Condition

Participants in this condition viewed a movie without guns. The movie (National Treasure or The Rocketeer) was edited to remove guns from scenes.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Movies with Guns

Participants in this arm viewed movies (National Treasure, The Rocketeer) without guns. The movies, rated PG, were edited to remove guns from the scenes

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL