Effects of television sitcom exposure on the accessibility of verbally aggressive thoughts

Abstract

This study examined the effects of exposure to verbally aggressive television sitcoms on the accessibility of aggressive cognitive responses within the framework provided by the General Aggression Model (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Participants viewed either a sitcom or a crime drama and then completed a thought‐listing task and measures of affective state, arousal, and trait verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated that during sitcom exposure, participants produced a statistically significant number of aggressive cognitive responses, with character attacks being the most common type, followed by competence attacks. Furthermore, when controlling for the effects of affect and arousal, the television exposure condition and trait verbal aggressiveness interacted to predict aggressive cognitive responses. Trait verbal aggressiveness predicted aggressive cognitive responses during sitcom exposure, but not during crime drama exposure. Finally, sitcom viewers produced a marginally higher number of aggressive cognitive responses than did viewers of the crime drama.