This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Google Scholar Articles by Grimes, T. Articles by Bergen, L. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Epistemological Argument Against a Causal Relationship Between Media Violence and Sociopathic Behavior Among Psychologically Well Viewers

Texas State University, San Marcos, grimes{at}txstate.edu

Lori Bergen

Texas State University, San Marcos

Much of the media violence research that has occurred, principally in the United States, has been based on a fundamental epistemological error: A correlation between variables— that is, between the consumption of media violence and acted-out aggression—has been inferred by many researchers to be a causal relationship. This article suggests that scholars who infer causation from correlation miss an important point. They propose to rescue a deeply flawed literary corpus by applying statistical principles that do not account for the theoretical and methodological disarray of much of the media violence literature, a disarray that invalidates their probabilistic calculations. This article suggests that rather than argue a causal hypothesis, it is more productive to untangle the conceptual and methodological confusion that hobbles this study area. A by-product could be the dissolution of the causal argument: The putative causal relationship between society's consumption of media violence and social aggression may disappear.

Key Words: media violence • children and television • causal relationships • psychopathology • epistemology

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?