Watching violent media increases real-world aggression.

Is it true that watching violent media increases real-world aggression?

Partly. Peer-reviewed meta-analyses and reviews disagree: some report links between violent media exposure and aggression, while others find the effect shrinks or disappears after correcting for publication bias and fails to generalize to real-world settings. The evidence covers parts of the claim rather than settling it outright.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 4 sources for, 4 against · Last checked 16 Oct 2026

The private library was unavailable for some searches in this check. Missing library results are not evidence against the claim.

A., A. C. (2004). An Update on the Effects of Playing Violent Video Games. eric.ed.gov. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2003.10.009

CJ, F. & J, K. (2009). The public health risks of media violence: a meta-analytic review.. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2008.11.033

Gorham, J. (2009). Annual Editions: Mass Media 09/10. books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=MVkhAQAAMAAJ&dq=Watching+violent+media+increases+real-world+aggression.&hl=&as_pt=BOOKS&source=gbs_api

Wilson, B. J. (2008). Media and children's aggression, fear, and altruism.. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.0.0005

Anderson, C. A. & Bushman, B. J. (2018). Media Violence and the General Aggression Model. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12275

Do violent videos and video games affect your behaviour?. (n.d.). cogsci.stackexchange.com. https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/17867

encyclopedia-of-information-science-and-technology-4th-revised-edition-2017. (n.d.). archive.org. https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-information-science-and-technology-4th-revised-edition-2017

TheEncyclopediaOfHumanBehaviour. (n.d.). archive.org. https://archive.org/details/TheEncyclopediaOfHumanBehaviour