Examining the Relationships between Violent Media Programming, Aggression and Prosocial Behaviors among Black College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between violent media programming, aggression and prosocial behaviors among Black college students. The study included 108 Black college students from a historically Black college/university on the East Coast. The researcher evaluated the participants’ aggression using Buss & Warren’s (2000) Aggression Questionnaire and evaluated the participants’ prosocial behaviors using Penner’s (1995) prosocial personality battery. The researcher then used an independent samples t-test to analyze the data and test the hypothesis that a relationship between the variables exists. Furthermore, the researcher employed discriminant analysis to determine if group membership could be predicted, based on scores on the aggression questionnaire. The independent samples t-test produced results that indicated a statistically significant difference in mean scores on the aggression questionnaire, between light viewers and heavy viewers of violent media programming. The discriminant analysis produced results which indicated the predictor variable, scores on the aggression questionnaire, predicts group membership in either heavy or light viewers, at a statistically significant level (p= .024). Additionally, visual inspection of the scores on the prosocial personality battery indicated participants who reported engaging in violent media programming scored significantly lower on the prosocial personality battery than those who reported engaging in light viewing of violent media programming. Results contribute to literature, research, practice and theory in the field of counseling