Does media violence increase children's toleration of real-life aggression?

Twenty-two male and 22 female third and fourth graders were randomly divided into groups for a 2 X 2 (Sex X Film/No Film) factorial design. Children in the aggressive film group saw a cowboy film that depicted many violent events. All of the children were led to believe that they were responsible for watching the behavior of twd younger children whom they could see on a videotape monitor. The younger children at first played quietly, then became progressively destructive. Their altercation culminated in a physical fight ending with the apparent destruction of the television camera. The dependent measures were (a) the time it took a subject to seek adult help after the younger children began to be disruptive and (b) whether or not the subject waited until the younger children had begun to abuse one another physically before seeking adult help. Results indicated that the children who saw an aggressive film took longer to seek adult help than did the children who did not see the film. More importantly, the children in the film group were much more likely to tolerate all but violent physical aggression and destruction before seeking help.