Effect of reading violent literature on aggression

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Our previous research showed that reading violent literature can cause people to become more aggressive, which is consistent with findings from investigations of other media (e.g., movies, video games). Our stimulus materials portrayed violent retaliation in response to unprovoked aggression. People began asking, "What would happen if the story ended in forgiveness instead of retaliation?" This was an interesting and important question, so we decided to investigate it. We were very surprised to find that men became more aggressive when exposed to unreciprocated aggression, whereas women became less aggressive. A subsequent unpublished study suggested that men wanted to see retaliation more than reconciliation and that they were dissatisfied with a reconciliation ending. We suspect that men and women draw upon different moral orientations when judging the endings to the stories: Men value fairness and reciprocity, and women value harm and care. Men want "an eye for an eye" and women want to "turn the other cheek." Our study is important because it suggests that peaceful behavior can be modeled successfully if it corresponds to the morality of the consumer. If peaceful reconciliation is portrayed as being fair, men may respond favorably to it. If it is portrayed as showing care for the other, women may respond more favorably to it.

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