Television Violence, Conflict, Realism, and Action: A Study in Viewer Liking

In three studies, the liking for various types of television content within adventure programs was examined In studies one and two, measures of college students' personalities were used to predict liking for program content varying on four dimensions: violence, action, realism! and conflict. In study three, families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds were shown adventure shows that were high or low in violence and matched on other content dimensions. The findings from these studies suggest that the average viewer somewhat dislikes the typical violence portrayed in adventure shows; however, conflict seems to enhance liking for adventure shows.