Tonya M. Fleetwood

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Paper:"A Look at Reckless Car Driving"
Year in School: College Sophomore
Class: Psychological Perspective on Violence
Date written:December 12, 2001

Violence in television programs and movies and its impacts on the people who watch them is not a new topic. Almost 30 years ago the U.S. Surgeon General warned Americans about the negative effect of television violence on the emotions and behaviors of viewers. However, even today, many people, including those in the entertainment industry, are still ambivalent about the seriousness of this issue. In light of September’s terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and on-going issues home and abroad, Americans have been glued to their televisions, radios, and newspapers, eager for the latest news. The amount of violence that people have been consuming through their televisions has been relatively high lately. It is hard to imagine that viewers are not being affected negatively by the large amount of exposure to violence in the media. Numerous research has been conducted concerning violence in the media.

Huesmann & Miller (1994) provided beneficial information regarding violence in the media, focusing mainly on children. It was found that “more aggressive children watch more violent television,” which shows that there is a connection between the viewer and violent-based media. Wood et al. (1991) gave evidence that media violence increases aggression in unconstrained social interaction by analyzing 30 comparisons in 23 studies (where the outcome variable was aggression).

Violence in the media is an important subject to understand. If it is causing audiences to replicate the violent acts they are seeing, then there should be regulations and censorship. The first step in this process is finding the instigators in the media that trigger violent reactions in viewers. This study is looking at violence in the media by exploring the movie genre. The results of this study will elaborate and contribute to previous research concerning violence in the media.

There are many types of media violence, thus there are many different variables to be researched. Two of the important variables are the effects on viewers (whether male/female, Caucasian or minority, younger/older, et cetera) and the type of media (movies, television, magazines, music, et cetera). What makes these variables important is the fact that they demonstrate the different degrees of variance in the media.

The present research is designed to examine the relationship between violence in a specific movie and the audience as determinants of increased violent tendencies. Violent tendencies, as used here, is the likelihood or urge to act aggressively. It is hypothesized that the violent tendencies of the test subjects will be higher after watching a specific violent film. Also, subjects who are typically reckless drivers will have a higher level of violent tendencies after watching a specific violent film. The mode of violence being experimented in the present research is reckless car driving. What is trying to be found is the relationship between watching reckless car driving and the effects on the audience. By using information from questionnaires, a car-driving computer game, and a car-driving movie, the relationship mentioned in the previous sentence will be examined. It is expected that the subjects will have an increased urge to drive a car recklessly after viewing a film about reckless car driving.

Participants are 157 college students (no significant difference in sex ratio) who responded to an ad in the “Village Voice”. Subjects are receiving $15 each upon completion of this study. The study includes each subject completing a questionnaire, playing a car-driving computer game, watching a car-driving movie, and then playing the exact same car-driving computer game again.

Subjects individually complete a questionnaire focusing on their driving experience. The questions are extremely forward. A few sample questions are: “Have you ever driven a car?”, “Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?”, “Do you typically drive the speed limit?”, et cetera. The questionnaire helps to get an idea of how their results from the computer game might correlate with previous driving experience.

Following the questionnaire, subjects individually play a computer game that focuses on driving cars. Each computer has a hand-held game control that is connected to the hard drive. This way the computer game is more like a video game rather than using the keyboard keys. On the game control there is a small lever that imitated a gear shifter and two buttons about the size of a half-dollar, one being imitating the gas pedal, one imitating the brake. There is also a small button replicating a horn, and a flip-switch that goes in the direction of right and left, replicating turn signals. Each subject is given a practice round so that they understand how to handle the game control. The game is reality based in the sense that the scenes are highways and city streets. There are no ‘fantasy’ scenes like a desert or speedway (as seen in most video games). The subjects treat the game just like they would a car. They can speed up or slow down. The maximum speed is 160, and the minimum is zero (as in most standard cars).

After playing the computer game, the subjects watch the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”. The subjects did not watch the movie individually, however, the subjects were not allowed to sit next to anyone, and they were discouraged to interact (since interaction may contribute to arousal). In this movie, a group of adults are on a mission to steal 50 cars in one night, with the deadline being at 9 am. There is twelve minutes left until the deadline, and the leader of the group is on his way to the loading dock to drop off the last car. The police find out and they cut him off. The remainder of the movie involves an intense car chase, with the police following the group leader and the group leader using his pristine driving abilities to get away. It is important to note that the fast driving and stealing of cars is portrayed as being ‘cool’ in the movie. The group leader drives extremely fast (he out-drives a helicopter) and dangerously. After viewing this movie, the subjects return to the same computer they were at before and proceed to re-play the game. The computer records exactly what the subject does.

(All information in the result section is what is expected, not actual) The questionnaire provided information about the driving background of each subject. Every subject had driven a car, 57% of the subjects had received a speeding ticket, and 87% reported to typically driving above the speed limit.

The computer game results showed that 81% of the test subjects drove the car (in the game) faster the second time playing the game. The second time would be after the subjects watched “Gone in 60 Seconds”. These results suggest that there is a high correlation between watching a movie about driving recklessly and the effects on the subjects as determinants of increased violent tendencies (driving recklessly). There were a few results regarding the hand-held game control. A very small amount of the subjects used their turn signals and no one used the horn.

The subjects that had reported they previously received a speeding ticket drove faster both times when playing the computer game. The speeding-ticket-subjects drove an average of 10 miles an hour faster than the 43% of subjects that had not previously received a speeding ticket. These results suggest that there is a relationship between being a typically fast, reckless driver and watching a movie about driving fast (as determinants of a higher likelihood of driving recklessly, i.e. increased violent tendencies).

Overall, the results strongly support the beginning expectation. As hypothesized, the subjects had an increased urge to drive a car recklessly after viewing a film about reckless car driving. This suggests that violence in the media has a negative effect on audiences. Some details of this connection might be questioned. Maybe the numbers could be debated, but the fact that a connection exists is hard to dispute. There was a relationship found between subjects that had previously received a speeding ticket and watching a film about driving recklessly. The results suggest that people who are typically reckless drivers, will have a higher urge to drive recklessly after watching a movie about driving fast (more so than people who are not typically reckless drivers). This relationship was expected, and it implies that more caution should be taken when getting behind the wheel. In regard to the results from the hand-held game control, the subjects might have simply forgotten that there was a turn signal switch and a horn on the game control. The game control is much different than a real car. These results could also suggest that the subjects were simply being careless.

There were factors that were not accounted for in this study. In regard to the movie portion of the experiment, the results might be different if the subjects had already seen the movie. The results might also be different if the subjects had watched the movie individually. In a more general sense, there are other factors that were not looked at. College students were the only subjects tested. The outcome might have been different if younger children were the participants, as well as if they had been middle-aged adults or senior citizens. Also, this study was very straightforward and somewhat predictable. The subjects were told that the study was about car driving. Since they played a computer game before, watched the movie, then played the game again, it really wasn’t hard to see what was expected to happen. That might have had an effect on the subjects.

It is important to note that the results of the present study only highlight the potential correlation between media violence and the negative effects on viewers. The subject matter is full of variables and nothing is concrete. There are many factors that contribute to a person acting violently, not just media.



Go to Documents index Paper:"A Look at Reckless Car Driving" Year in School: College Sophomore Class: Psychological Perspective on Violence Date written:December 12, 2001 Violence in television programs and movies and its impacts on the people who watch them is not a new topic. Almost 30 years ago the U.S. Surgeon General warned Americans about the negative effect of television violence on the emotions and behaviors of viewers. However, even today, many people, including those in the entertainment industry, are still ambivalent about the seriousness of this issue. In light of September’s terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and on-going issues home and abroad, Americans have been glued to their televisions, radios, and newspapers, eager for the latest news. The amount of violence that people have been consuming through their televisions has been relatively high lately. It is hard to imagine that viewers are not being affected negatively by the large amount of exposure to violence in the media. Numerous research has been conducted concerning violence in the media. Huesmann & Miller (1994) provided beneficial information regarding violence in the media, focusing mainly on children. It was found that “more aggressive children watch more violent television,” which shows that there is a connection between the viewer and violent-based media. Wood et al. (1991) gave evidence that media violence increases aggression in unconstrained social interaction by analyzing 30 comparisons in 23 studies (where the outcome variable was aggression). Violence in the media is an important subject to understand. If it is causing audiences to replicate the violent acts they are seeing, then there should be regulations and censorship. The first step in this process is finding the instigators in the media that trigger violent reactions in viewers. This study is looking at violence in the media by exploring the movie genre. The results of this study will elaborate and contribute to previous research concerning violence in the media. There are many types of media violence, thus there are many different variables to be researched. Two of the important variables are the effects on viewers (whether male/female, Caucasian or minority, younger/older, et cetera) and the type of media (movies, television, magazines, music, et cetera). What makes these variables important is the fact that they demonstrate the different degrees of variance in the media. The present research is designed to examine the relationship between violence in a specific movie and the audience as determinants of increased violent tendencies. Violent tendencies, as used here, is the likelihood or urge to act aggressively. It is hypothesized that the violent tendencies of the test subjects will be higher after watching a specific violent film. Also, subjects who are typically reckless drivers will have a higher level of violent tendencies after watching a specific violent film. The mode of violence being experimented in the present research is reckless car driving. What is trying to be found is the relationship between watching reckless car driving and the effects on the audience. By using information from questionnaires, a car-driving computer game, and a car-driving movie, the relationship mentioned in the previous sentence will be examined. It is expected that the subjects will have an increased urge to drive a car recklessly after viewing a film about reckless car driving. Participants are 157 college students (no significant difference in sex ratio) who responded to an ad in the “Village Voice”. Subjects are receiving $15 each upon completion of this study. The study includes each subject completing a questionnaire, playing a car-driving computer game, watching a car-driving movie, and then playing the exact same car-driving computer game again. Subjects individually complete a questionnaire focusing on their driving experience. The questions are extremely forward. A few sample questions are: “Have you ever driven a car?”, “Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?”, “Do you typically drive the speed limit?”, et cetera. The questionnaire helps to get an idea of how their results from the computer game might correlate with previous driving experience. Following the questionnaire, subjects individually play a computer game that focuses on driving cars. Each computer has a hand-held game control that is connected to the hard drive. This way the computer game is more like a video game rather than using the keyboard keys. On the game control there is a small lever that imitated a gear shifter and two buttons about the size of a half-dollar, one being imitating the gas pedal, one imitating the brake. There is also a small button replicating a horn, and a flip-switch that goes in the direction of right and left, replicating turn signals. Each subject is given a practice round so that they understand how to handle the game control. The game is reality based in the sense that the scenes are highways and city streets. There are no ‘fantasy’ scenes like a desert or speedway (as seen in most video games). The subjects treat the game just like they would a car. They can speed up or slow down. The maximum speed is 160, and the minimum is zero (as in most standard cars). After playing the computer game, the subjects watch the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”. The subjects did not watch the movie individually, however, the subjects were not allowed to sit next to anyone, and they were discouraged to interact (since interaction may contribute to arousal). In this movie, a group of adults are on a mission to steal 50 cars in one night, with the deadline being at 9 am. There is twelve minutes left until the deadline, and the leader of the group is on his way to the loading dock to drop off the last car. The police find out and they cut him off. The remainder of the movie involves an intense car chase, with the police following the group leader and the group leader using his pristine driving abilities to get away. It is important to note that the fast driving and stealing of cars is portrayed as being ‘cool’ in the movie. The group leader drives extremely fast (he out-drives a helicopter) and dangerously. After viewing this movie, the subjects return to the same computer they were at before and proceed to re-play the game. The computer records exactly what the subject does. (All information in the result section is what is expected, not actual) The questionnaire provided information about the driving background of each subject. Every subject had driven a car, 57% of the subjects had received a speeding ticket, and 87% reported to typically driving above the speed limit. The computer game results showed that 81% of the test subjects drove the car (in the game) faster the second time playing the game. The second time would be after the subjects watched “Gone in 60 Seconds”. These results suggest that there is a high correlation between watching a movie about driving recklessly and the effects on the subjects as determinants of increased violent tendencies (driving recklessly). There were a few results regarding the hand-held game control. A very small amount of the subjects used their turn signals and no one used the horn. The subjects that had reported they previously received a speeding ticket drove faster both times when playing the computer game. The speeding-ticket-subjects drove an average of 10 miles an hour faster than the 43% of subjects that had not previously received a speeding ticket. These results suggest that there is a relationship between being a typically fast, reckless driver and watching a movie about driving fast (as determinants of a higher likelihood of driving recklessly, i.e. increased violent tendencies). Overall, the results strongly support the beginning expectation. As hypothesized, the subjects had an increased urge to drive a car recklessly after viewing a film about reckless car driving. This suggests that violence in the media has a negative effect on audiences. Some details of this connection might be questioned. Maybe the numbers could be debated, but the fact that a connection exists is hard to dispute. There was a relationship found between subjects that had previously received a speeding ticket and watching a film about driving recklessly. The results suggest that people who are typically reckless drivers, will have a higher urge to drive recklessly after watching a movie about driving fast (more so than people who are not typically reckless drivers). This relationship was expected, and it implies that more caution should be taken when getting behind the wheel. In regard to the results from the hand-held game control, the subjects might have simply forgotten that there was a turn signal switch and a horn on the game control. The game control is much different than a real car. These results could also suggest that the subjects were simply being careless. There were factors that were not accounted for in this study. In regard to the movie portion of the experiment, the results might be different if the subjects had already seen the movie. The results might also be different if the subjects had watched the movie individually. In a more general sense, there are other factors that were not looked at. College students were the only subjects tested. The outcome might have been different if younger children were the participants, as well as if they had been middle-aged adults or senior citizens. Also, this study was very straightforward and somewhat predictable. The subjects were told that the study was about car driving. Since they played a computer game before, watched the movie, then played the game again, it really wasn’t hard to see what was expected to happen. That might have had an effect on the subjects. It is important to note that the results of the present study only highlight the potential correlation between media violence and the negative effects on viewers. The subject matter is full of variables and nothing is concrete. There are many factors that contribute to a person acting violently, not just media.