Violent TV linked to negative attributes

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The amount of violent TV watched is linked to negative personality attributes among white males and females and African-American females, researchers said.

Psychologists Seymour Feshbach of the University of California-Los Angeles and June Tangney of George Mason University conducted a study that evaluated TV viewing habits, intelligence and behavior in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade children.

To assess these qualities, the children's parents and teachers completed behavioral questionnaires detailing the children's aggression, delinquency and cruelty. The children took IQ tests and completed surveys indicating the TV programs watched during a seven-day time period.

The authors speculate that perhaps for African-American males viewing TV -- including violent programs -- may play a different role than for white males and African-American and white females. However, while there was a correlation between watching violent TV and lower academic performance in African-America males, these boys did not exhibit increased aggression or lower IQ.

"The data raise the possibility that processes competing with or overriding the aggression stimulating or aggression modeling effects of viewing violence on television may be more salient for African-American males," the researchers said.

The findings are published in the Perspectives on Psychological Science.