Personal History of Violence and Response to Violence: A Quantitative and Free-Response Study Focusing on College-Age Students

This study examined the relationship between people’s history with violence and how they responded to a graphically violent real-life video. A review of the literature revealed there had been extensive research done about the effects of media and violence on individuals, yet there is a lack of evidence about the effect that violent home footage can have on college-aged students. This relational study utilized a questionnaire that included both a Likert scale and a free-response portion with 25 undergraduate students rating their relationship with violence in the past and their response to a violent video. Greater prior exposure to violence was associated with more extreme responses to violent videos. Suggestions are made for further research involving a larger study utilizing different types of violence recorded in real-life situations