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Abstract
This study examines the effects of chronic (i.e., repeated and cumulative) mediated exposure to political violence on ideological beliefs regarding political conflict. It centers on these effects on young viewers, from preadolescents to adolescents. Ideological beliefs refers here to support of war, perception of threat to one’s nation, and normative beliefs concerning aggression toward the out-group. A longitudinal study was conducted on a sample of Israeli and Palestinian youths who experience the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firsthand (N = 1,207). Two alternative hypotheses were tested: that chronic exposure via the media increases support for war and aggression and elevates feeling of threat, or that chronic exposure via the media strengthens preexisting beliefs. Results demonstrated that higher levels of exposure were longitudinally related to stronger support for war. Regarding normative beliefs about aggression and threat to one’s nation, mediated exposure reinforced initial beliefs, rendering the youths more extreme in their attitudes. These results mostly support the conceptualization of the relation between media violence and behaviors as “reciprocally determined” or “reinforcing spirals.” The results are also discussed in light of the differences found between the effect of exposure to political violence firsthand and exposure via the media.
Notes
1. The concept addressed here—mediated chronic exposure—is a specific type of indirect exposure. Other types of indirect exposure could also be found in the literature, for instance work on interpersonal communication (Lyall, Blair, & Imai, Citation2013).
2. Since the Israeli sample was not representative, all analyses were re-computed using a weighted sample. We weighted the Israeli sample according to geographic areas, we calculated the percent of the population of Israel in 2008, when the study began. The results of the weighted and un-weighted analyses were substantially similar, therefore we reported on the un-weighted results.
3. Full measures are available upon request.
4. Given the dichotomous nature of the scale, the combination of the two subscales also helped achieve more variance in responses. Correlation between scales – children: Wave 1, r = .33, p < .01; Wave 3, r = .32, p < .01; parents: r = .33, p < .01.
5. The decrement in the number of participants interviewed among Israeli Jews was mostly due to “refusals.” The refusing participants reported that they did not feel the monetary reimbursement was sufficient to justify their time. In fact, due to significant exchange rate changes over the course of the study, the amount of money offered to each participant was significantly less in Waves 2 and 3. Because Arab Israelis had much lower average incomes, the amount was perceived as sufficient by most of them.
6. We also ran an analysis in which exposure in Wave 1 and Wave 2 were separated, with no significant difference in results.
7. In an additional analysis we also controlled for exposure to conflict/violence in the context of the community, school, and family. See Appendix D in Supplemental Material for full description of measurements.
8. PROCESS is a SPSS macro supplied by Andrew Hayes, which can be found at http://www.afhayes.com/.
9. Using the Johnson-Neyman technique demonstrated that the relation between beliefs about nation Wave 1 and beliefs about nation Wave 3 was not significant among those with chronic exposure lower than 2.2 SD below the mean (see Appendix E in Supplemental Material, for full chart). The relation between beliefs about aggression toward the out-group Wave 1 and Wave 3 was significant in all levels of exposure, and the effect size increased as exposure increased.
10. Parents of children in the 8-year-old cohort provided reports of their children’s exposure to ethnic-political conflict in each wave, but children in the older cohorts (11- and 14-year-olds in Wave 1) provided self-reports. We followed this strategy because our Institutional Review Board had concerns about the 8-year-olds’ emotional reactions to reporting on their own exposure. Also, given time constraints on interviews with young children, having parents report on these items decreased the length of the interview for 8-year-olds. To examine the comparability of children’s and parents’ reports of children’s exposure to political conflict/violence, we administered the measures to both children and parents of the youngest cohort in Wave 3 and found them to be highly correlated (r = .68).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Shira Dvir Gvirsman
Shira Dvir Gvirsman is an assistant professor, Department of Communication, Tel Aviv University.
L. Rowell Huesmann
L. Rowell Huesmann is a Professor, Department of Communication, University of Michigan.
Eric F. Dubow
Eric F. Dubow is a Professor, Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University and the Institute of Research, University of Michigan.
Simha F. Landau
Simha F. Landau is a Professor, Department of Criminology, Academic College of Emek Yezreel and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Paul Boxer
Paul Boxer is a Professor, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University and the Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan.
Khalil Shikaki
Khalil Shikaki is the Head of the Palestinian Center for Polity and Survey Research.