The Short-Term Effect of Online Violent Stimuli on Aggression

Abstract

The significance of this study was to find whether violent stimuli exposure could escalate the following levels of aggression in order to better cultivate aggression education among contemporary undergraduates in China. This study mainly tested the effects of violent stimuli on aggression by employing modified Stroop task. A total of 188 undergraduates participated in this study. Results showed that undergraduates exposing to violent stimuli exhibited high levels of aggression, whereas undergraduates who exposed to non-violent stimuli displayed low levels of aggression. Specifically, males, but not females, manifested high levels of aggression after exposure to violent stimuli. Moreover, viewers with high-aggressiveness (HA), but not with moderate-aggressiveness (MA) and low-aggressiveness (LA), showed high levels of aggression after exposure to violent stimuli via internet.