Exposure to violence makes you more likely to lie, cheat

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/byu-etv120315.php

Public Release: 3-Dec-2015
Exposure to violence makes you more likely to lie, cheat
Violence in print, video media erodes ethical behavior
Brigham Young University

Can watching a violent movie make you more likely to lie, cheat or steal? What about reading a violent book? While that may seem like a stretch, a new research study shows it may be the case.

The study, published in the Journal of Business Ethics, finds that exposure to human violence is strongly linked to an increase in cheating for monetary gain. In other words, violence may be making us less ethical.

"Research shows that violent media increases aggressive behavior towards others, but what we're showing here is that it goes beyond that," said study coauthor Josh Gubler, a professor of political science at BYU.

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Surprisingly, while both male and female test subjects responded to violently worded media (experiment 1), only the men's ethics were negatively influenced by violent videos.

"We have whole industries that glorify violence--in video games, in media, in Hollywood--and then, on the opposite side, we have a significant body of research showing very serious effects to this," Wood said. "There is a disconnect between what science is saying and what we choose to do in society."

One such study, published in 2009, found that subjects who played violent video games for only 20 minutes took five times longer to help a person in need. The study also found that people who had just seen a violent film took 26 percent longer to help an injured woman.

Last year the journal, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, published a study showing the majority of media researchers, not to mention parents and pediatricians, see the link between violent media and increased aggression.

Wood believes our society needs to have a "really serious gut check" and ask why we tolerate and glorify violence. He and Gubler said their study is the latest to show that violent media has more negative impacts than most people imagine.

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