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The effects of music videos on adolescents:
A vote-counting analysis
By
Melanie Wolf
UVA-ID: 0595764
Research Master of Communication Science (M.Sc.)
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Supervision by:
Prof. Dr. Patti M. Valkenburg
Submitted the 10th of September 2007, Amsterdam
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Abstract
The content of music videos has been of strong public concern, both in the United
States and in Europe. Even more, music videos are often accused to communicate
potentially harmful messages that might influence teenagers and adolescents. This
article gives a systematic and complete overview of the empirical research on the effects
of music videos on youth. To this end, the most common hypotheses regarding the
impact of music videos on teenagers and adolescents were summarized and classified
into five categories concerning the research areas aggression, sexuality, gender
stereotypes, body image and health. In addition, four possible theoretical explanations
were put into relation to the hypotheses: Social learning theory, cognitive priming,
media cultivation theory and social comparison. The validity of each hypothesis was
investigated using a vote-counting analysis. The analysis revealed a considerable
amount of empirical evidence that links the exposure to music videos with detrimental
effects on teenagers and adolescents. Even brief periods of watching seem to have an
impact on aggression, sexuality, stereotypical gender schemas and health. The outcome
of the vote-counting analysis provides several (working) hypotheses for further research
and identifies possible aspects that should be taken into account in future research.
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Table of content
1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….…1
2 Hypotheses about the effects of music videos on adolescents…………………….4
2.1 Music videos encourage aggressive or violent attitudes and behavior………4
2.2 Music videos promote liberal sexual attitudes and behavior…………….…...7
2.3 Music videos activate and reinforce stereotypical gender schemas…….……7
2.4 Music videos enhance body dissatisfaction and a drive for thinness…….…..8
2.5 Music videos promote health risk behavior and produce adverse
health effects……………………………………………………………………9
3 Empirical evidence…………………………………………………………………10
3.1 Empirical evidence: Aggressive attitudes and behavior…………………….11
3.1.1 Classification and operationalization of aggressive or violent
attitudes and behavior……………………………………………………11
3.1.2 Laboratory experiments…………………………………………………..13
3.1.3 Quasi-experiment…………………………………………………………16
3.1.4 Correlational study……………………………………………………….18
3.1.5 Moderating variables……………………………………………………..18
3.1.6 Summary empirical evidence: Aggressive attitudes and behavior……….19
3.2 Empirical evidence: Sexual attitudes and behavior………………………….19
3.2.1 Classification and operationalization of sexual attitudes and behavior…20
3.2.2 Laboratory experiments…………………………………………….…….22
3.2.3 Correlational studies……………………………………………………..24
3.2.4 Moderating variables……………………………………………………..25
3.2.5 Summary empirical evidence: Sexual attitudes and behavior……………26
3.3 Empirical evidence: Stereotypical gender schemas………………………….26
3.3.1 Classification and operationalization of stereotypical gender schemas…27
3.3.2 Laboratory experiments and the integrated correlational study…………27
3.3.3 Moderating variables……………………………………………………..31
3.3.4 Summary empirical evidence: Stereotypical gender schemas……………33
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3.4 Empirical evidence: Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness…………...33
3.4.1 Classification and operationalization of body dissatisfaction and
drive for thinness…………………………………………………………34
3.4.2 Laboratory experiment…………………………………………………...34
3.4.3 Correlational study……………………………………………………….35
3.4.4 Moderating variables……………………………………………………..35
3.4.5 Summary empirical evidence: Body dissatisfaction and drive
for thinness……………………………………………………………….37
3.5 Empirical evidence: Health risk behavior and adverse health effects……..37
3.5.1 Classification and operationalization of health risk behavior and
adverse health effects…………………………………………………….38
3.5.2 Laboratory experiments………………………………………………….39
3.5.3 Correlational studies……………………………………………………..41
3.5.4 Moderating variables……………………………………………………..42
3.5.5 Summary empirical evidence: Health risk behavior and adverse
health effects……………………………………………………………..42
3.6 Empirical evidence: Other effects…………………………………………….43
3.6.1 Laboratory experiments………………………………………………….43
3.6.2 Summary empirical evidence: Other effects……………………………..45
4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….45
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1
Introduction
The content of music videos, especially violent and sexual imagery, has been the
objective of strong public concern, both in the United States and in Europe (see e.g.
Strasburger & Hendren, 1995; Gore, 1987; National Coalition on Television Violence,
1984; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2004). Even more,
music videos were accused to communicate potentially harmful health messages that
might influence adolescents (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1996). Although it is
commonly taken for granted that the reception of music videos potentially influences
adolescents, there is still no consensus about what these effects are and whether they are
supported by empirical research. Very often, arguments are rather deducted from
quantitative content analyses, connected to social-cognitive theories of information
processing and social learning, than taken from actual empirical studies (NeumannBraun & Mikos, 2006).
Nevertheless, to date, several studies have documented that teenagers can be
affected by even a short exposure to music videos, especially when it comes to violent
behavior and aggression, sexual attitudes, body image and general health issues. This
research on effects of music videos is mostly based on experimental studies with a
background in social psychology, foremost conducted in the USA. The focus of these
studies lies on two main different kind of dependent variables: On the one hand,
researchers look at how the reception of music videos affects attitudes and emotions of
teenagers, on the other hand, they are interested in concrete changes in social and health
related behavior. The main goal of this review study is to categorize and analyze the
existing hypotheses regarding the effects of music videos on youth and to examine to
what extent these hypotheses are supported by empirical research findings.
A music video, formally also often called rock video, is a short video or film that
accompanies a piece of music or a song. Especially modern music videos are first and
foremost produced as a marketing device to promote the sales of a single or a whole
music album and to create an image of a musician or a band (Kurp, Hauschild & Wiese,
2002). Although the origins of music videos go back much further, the importance
increased immensely with the advent of music television channels such as MTV or VH1
in the 1980s, offering the possibility to watch music videos to a broad audience. In
2001, MTV with all its national adaptations globally reached 350 million households
(PBS On-Line, 2001). According to Nielsen Media Research (2000), MTV is the most
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known TV network among adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 34. 82% of the
MTV audience is aged between 12 and 34, with 39% of the viewers being younger than
18 years old. This popularity has been confirmed constantly: In 1996, Teenage Research
Unlimited reported that MTV is watched by 78% of girls and 73% of boys aged 12 to
19. The average viewing time was 6.2 hours per week for the girls and 6.6 hours per
week for the boys (Teenage Research Unlimited, 1996). Even in the earlier days of
MTV, the program held a similar popularity: In a survey of 603 high school students
from California, 80% said that they watched MTV, with an average viewing time of
over two hours per day (Sun & Lull, 1986).
With the increase of broadband connection, the Internet has also become an
interesting source for viewing music videos. Not only do music channels or music
stores provide streams of music videos online all around the clock, many music clips are
uploaded and shared by users themselves on multimedia platforms such as YouTube,
MySpace or Google Video, even though this practice often ignores existing copyright
policies. For instance, the community platform MySpace features web pages for more
than 350.000 artists and bands, providing the possibility to share audio recordings and
music videos with other MySpace users. Other providers of music videos share this
popularity: As an example, in the last week of May 2005, 12.2 million people watched
music videos on AOL Music, Yahoo Music was close behind with an audience of 12.2
million, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings (Caramanica, 2005).
The numbers show that the main target group of music television and therewith
probably also the core of recipients of music videos are adolescents and young adults.
They also indicate that music videos play an important role in the lives of teenagers and
adolescents. When asked for reasons for watching music videos, youngsters particularly
mention distraction and amusement, but also fun and entertainment as well as a positive
influence on the mood (for a summary of relevant research see e.g. Quandt, 1997). But
listening to music and watching music videos is not only a pleasurable leisure activity
(Rowe, 1995), it may also play a fundamental role in the development of teenagers` self
and group identity (Christenson, DeBenedittis & Lindlof, 1985) and gives inspiration to
define social and cultural boundaries (Christenson et al., 1985), acting as an “agent of
socialization” worth mentioning (Lull, 1985, p 368). Because of the combination of
music and dramatic visual imagery, music videos are expected to be an even more
compelling source of information about social roles, culture and consumerism than
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music alone (Sun & Lull, 1986; Englis, 1991), having a huge potential for social
learning, increased physiological excitation and mood effects (Desmond, 1987).
Studies on the reception of music videos are generally based on two paradigms: The
paradigm of the active recipient and the paradigm of the passive recipient of media
messages. In the paradigm of the active recipient, the viewers of music videos are
considered to be an active audience that generates meaning from the given material,
depending on the socio-cultural context and the present living situation. The reception is
described as an interactive process between the recipient and the music video, being an
important element in the social life of youth. Research based on this paradigm, mostly
in the area of cultural studies, generally focuses on the reception of music videos as an
important element in socialization and youth culture.
Research based on the paradigm of the passive recipient assumes that teenagers and
adolescents are susceptible to the mainly potentially detrimental effects of sexual and
violent content of music videos. It is expected that the mere exposure to music videos
can (unconsciously) produce causal effects in the viewers. This research usually
investigates to which extent or what kind of music videos are harmful for youth and
addresses issues such as whether adolescents should be protected from these possibly
negative effects.
Several authors have reviewed effects of music videos on youth (see e.g. Hansen,
2000; Neumann-Braun & Mikos, 2006; Neumann-Braun, 1999; Wilson & Martins,
2005). The present review differs from these reviews in three aspects:
First, in contrast to earlier reviews, which were solely narrative in nature, this paper
also presents the results of a vote-counting analysis. This vote-counting analysis
consists of a formalized count of a number of relevant studies that tested effects of
music videos on adolescents, including both studies that produced or failed to produce
statistically significant findings in the hypothesized direction. A vote-counting analysis
is believed to be the most appropriate and accepted method of research synthesis when a
literature is undersized and heterogeneous, as in the case of empirical literature about
effects of music videos on youth (Bushman, 1994; Cooper, 1990; Buijzen &
Valkenburg, 2003)
Second, different to earlier narrative reviews, this vote-counting analysis provides a
comprehensive and complete review of the relevant research literature. Previous
narrative reviews on the effects of music videos on youth have usually discussed a
selection of research, either without reporting criteria on how they selected the
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empirical studies that were included in their reviews (Hansen, 2000; Neumann-Braun &
Mikos, 2006; Neumann-Braun, 1999), or limiting the review to one specific area of
effects, such as music videos and violence (Wilson & Martins, 2005). Non-systematic
literature searches can easily result in biased samples and, as a consequence, to biased
conclusions (Johnson & Eagly, 2000; Davies, 2000).
Third, unlike earlier reviews, this paper concentrates on the effects of music videos
alone and does not include neither effect studies on television and music in general nor
effect studies on music lyrics in particular. Music videos represent a medium with
particular features and should therefore be looked at specifically.
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Hypotheses about the effects of music videos on adolescents
In the past three decades, several hypotheses regarding the impact of music videos
on adolescents have been put forward in the literature. For reasons of clarity, I will now
summarize the most common hypotheses, classifying them into five categories: Effects
related to aggression, sexual attitudes, stereotypical gender schemas, body image and
health related effects. Accordingly, I will outline possible theoretical explanations for
each hypothesis that have received research attention. In the literature, four different
perspectives are usually referred to discussing media effects: Social learning theory,
cognitive priming, media cultivation theory and social comparison. In the following
paragraphs, I will discuss them in more detail and put them into relation to the
hypotheses.
2.1 Music videos encourage aggressive or violent attitudes and behavior
Published content analyses of music videos conducted over the last 20 years have
generally reported high levels of violence (see e.g. DuRant, Rich, Emans, Rome, Allred
& Woods, 1997; Smith & Boyson, 2002; Smith, 2005). Moreover, it has been found that
music videos contain considerable amounts of antisocial or rebellious behavior (Brown
& Campbell, 1986).
When examining research on music videos and violence, one concern is that the
musicians and characters portrayed in the clips function as role models for adolescents.
Referring to Bandura`s social learning theory (1977), researchers argue that new violent
behavior seen in those music videos are likely to be observed, and reproduced (Peterson
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& Pfost, 1989; Hansen & Hansen, 1990). This learning would be a serious concern
because violent and aggressive behaviors are taught but the consequences are rarely
reflected (Smith & Boyson, 2002). In general, social learning theory is a social
psychological theory that gives a broad explanation of human behavior. According to
this theory, an individual “learns” by watching others. Especially if a certain behavior is
noticed repeatedly, either in real-life or in the media, the individual starts to mimic it. In
particular, the learning will be internalized if the person then receives external rewards
for this behavior (Bryant & Thompson, 2002). Social learning theory is a rather
straightforward way of understanding the socialization process. It explains that with
enough repetition and feedback from others, a certain perspective can become relevant.
In the case of music videos, the danger lies in the fact that the relatively high number of
violent or aggressive images portrayed in the clips together with positive rewards from
peers may alter the perceptions of teenagers in those respects and result in a greater
acceptance or mimicking of behaviors shown in the music videos.
Another concern is that violent and aggressive content depicted in music videos can
have temporary “priming” effects (Hansen & Hansen, 1990; Johnson, Adams &
Ashburn, 1995; Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995). These priming effects may then
influence how individuals evaluate other concepts and ideas, resulting in a
predisposition of violent or aggressive interpretations. Cognitive priming describes a
process by which the exposure to media content activates related mental constructs
existing in the mind of the recipient. This may then influence how individuals evaluate
other concepts and ideas (Berkowitz, 1986). Research in social psychology has shown
that temporary accessibility of certain bits of information or social constructs is likely to
affect following attitudes and judgments for a certain period of time (Srull & Wyer,
1980). This “temporary construct accessibility” is usually the result of the exposure to
certain visual, verbal or acoustic stimuli, such as e.g. violent scenes or aggressive lyrics
in music videos. When an individual is presented with such a stimulus, he or she can be
“primed” to related concepts. These primed ideas or categories may then stimulate
other, semantically related thoughts, responses or feelings and even influence an
individual`s actions and behavior. Priming is considered to occur without intention and
awareness. Therefore it is described to be an automatic, unconscious process (see e.g.
Bargh & Pietromonaco, 1982).
Although the mechanisms of priming imply that the effects of exposure to music
videos may only be short-term and temporary, contemporary information-processing
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theories support that priming effects may have long-term implications. According to
this activation frequency hypothesis (Bargh, Band, Lombardi & Tota, 1986; Hansen,
1989; Hansen & Hansen, 1988; Johnson, Adams & Asburn, 1995), the more often a
category is used (either through real-world or media experiences), the more likely it is
to be accessible. And the more accessible it is, the more likely it will influence
judgments and interpretations of real-world behaviors. As a consequence, social
categories may become chronically accessible if they are activated frequently.
Considering the popularity of music videos in the general media consumption of
adolescents, it is impossible to neglect another very prominent approach in media effect
studies and violence: Media cultivation theory (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorelli,
1986; Zillmann & Bryant, 1994). Cultivation theory assumes that televisions can be
considered as an agent of socialization, influencing the recipients` ideas of what the
everyday world is like. Whereas light viewers have more sources and outlets from real
life to influence their assumptions, young and/or heavy viewers may rely on mediated
experiences as their main source of information (McQuail & Windahl, 1993; van Evra,
1990). Hereby, an over-representation of certain topics and characteristic such as violent
imagery and/or aggressive behavior brings heavy viewers to generate and promote
certain assumptions about violence and aggression which are more consistent with a
televised version of reality than with what actual reality is. These extorted assumptions
or overestimations may then lead to an increased acceptance of aggressive behavior as
something “normal”. Cultivation theorists argue that these long-term effects might be
small, gradual and indirect but significant and cumulative (McQuail & Windahl, 1993).
Hundreds of studies on the impact of violent television programming showed that
exposure to violent imagery increases aggression (see e.g. Bushman & Anderson,
2001). Moreover, studies on the effects of music demonstrated that songs with violent
lyrics can lead to more aggressive cognitions or feelings of hostility (see e.g. Wilson &
Martins, 2005). Considering that music videos use visual imagery to accompany or
support the lyrics of a song, it is likely to suggest that the exposure to music videos with
violent content also encourages aggressive or violent attitudes and behavior in children
and adolescents. It is expected that recipients generally form more positive impressions
about violent or aggressive behaviors and actions which are portrayed in the music
videos, and that recipients are more likely to actually carry out the aggressive or violent
behavior depicted (Hansen & Hansen, 1988).
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2.2 Music videos promote liberal sexual attitudes and behavior
Content analyses of popular music videos have also revealed that many music
videos contain high levels of sexual explicit imagery (see e.g. Sommers-Flanagan,
Sommers-Flanagan & Davis, 1993; Smith, 2005). In addition, song lyrics have become
more and more sexually explicit over the last 50 years (Rice, 1980; Hansen, 1995).
As in the case of violent content, scholars draw back on social learning theory and
cognitive priming, predicting that such a combination of sexual explicit imagery and
lyrics might promote liberal sexual attitudes and behavior in adolescents. In this case,
music videos provide youngsters with models whose sexual attitudes and behaviors are
learned and replicated (Lund & Blaedon, 2003). Learning effects could be expected to
be even bigger for younger children and adolescents who are still learning about sex and
therefore lack real-world experiences. Moreover, music videos, such as television in
general, convey sexual scripts that establish expectations and norms concerning “how to
be sexual, why have sex, whom to have it with, and what the appropriate sequence of
activities is” (Ward, 1995, p 596). Intensive exposure to sexual content in music videos
might also result in cultivation effects. The over-representation of sexual topics and
characteristics may bring heavy viewers to generate and promote certain assumptions
about love, sexuality, fidelity or cheating which are more consistent with a televised
version of reality than with what actual reality is.
All in all, recipients are expected to form more positive impressions about liberal
sexual behaviors and actions which are portrayed in music videos, and to engage in the
kinds of sexual behavior depicted more likely.
2.3 Music videos activate and reinforce stereotypical gender schemas
Analyzing the content of music videos, it has also been found that music videos
repeatedly show sexual stereotyping of male and female characters, including even
sexist presentations of women (Sommers-Flanagan et al., 1993; Vincent, Davis &
Boruszkowski, 1987, Vincent, 1989; Seidman, 1992; Gow, 1996). This prevalence of
dominant and powerful men and sexually objectified women raises concern about the
potential impact of these images on adolescents` developing sex role and gender
schemas.
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Studies of social development have shown that society`s understanding of
masculinity and femininity consists of conceptions about gender role norms that are
acquired from early life on (see Golombok & Fivush, 1994; Ruble & Martin, 1998 for a
review). Yet, gender knowledge becomes more defined as children enter adolescence
(see e.g. Hill & Lynch, 1983). All the information about sex roles, behavior and
character traits traditionally associated with each gender is assumed to be stored in
gender schemas or associative networks which then organize our understanding about
gender, guiding how new gender-related experiences and information will be perceived
and processed (Bem, 1981; Martin & Halverson, 1981). Although content for those
gender schemas originates from many sources and experiences, mass media and
especially television are expected to be important contributors. Unfortunately, the way
gender is portrayed in some television outlets is not always ideal. Especially music
videos often rely on cultural stereotypes, gender role cues and shortcuts to transport a
story or an image (Aufderheide, 1986; Andsager & Roe, 1999).
The exposure to music videos portraying male and female characters in a sex role
stereotypical way will also prime existing stereotypical gender schemas, making them
stronger and more accessible (Bargh, 1984; Higgins & King, 1981). As a result, music
videos are expected to activate and reinforce stereotypical gender schemas, influencing
the viewers` conceptions of masculinity and femininity as well as general gender role
attitudes.
2.4 Music videos enhance body dissatisfaction and a drive for thinness
Besides the stereotypical and sometimes sexist portrayal of women, content analyses
have shown that in particular, many music videos emphasize the physical appearance of
female characters or musicians (Gow, 1996). They are commonly depicted as attractive
and thin, wearing little and provocative dresses (Sommers-Flanagan et al., 1993;
Vincent, Davis & Boruszkowski, 1987; Vincent, 1989).
Although beauty ideals can be passed on in many ways (e.g. by parents and the peer
group), the mass media are probably the most powerful transmitters of socio-cultural
ideals (Tiggemann & Slater, 2003). Research on various media outlets such as
magazines and television has shown that the exposure to thin idealized media images
plays an important causal role in body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness and disordered
eating (see e.g. Wykes & Gunter, 2005 for an overview). Hereby, most of the effect
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studies draw back on social comparison theory to explain changes in recipients` body
satisfaction. Social comparison theory is based on the assumption that individuals set up
their own identity through making comparisons between themselves and others who
have specific appreciated attributes (Festinger, 1954). Some people show the tendency
to choose inappropriate comparison targets and engage in unrealistic upward
comparisons. Social comparison can be made with role model types from real life as
well as with people that appear in the mass media, such as celebrities or artists.
Research has shown that especially such social comparison with media models in terms
of weight and appearance can result in dissatisfaction with the own body image (e.g.
Wykes & Gunter, 2005). As a result of the strong emphasis on physical appearance and
thinness in music videos, researchers are concerned that by viewing the attractive, thinideal images portrayed in music videos, women`s body dissatisfaction will increase and
might result in an unhealthy drive for thinness.
2.5 Music videos promote health risk behavior and produce adverse health effects
Researchers have also been concerned about the way health risk behavior is
presented in music videos. Content analyses of music videos revealed that substance
use, such as alcohol and drugs, is often portrayed in a positive social context, e.g.
showing more attractive, successful and influential people drinking (DuRant, Rome,
Rich, Allred, Emans & Woods, 1997; Smith, 2005). In light of priming theory
(Berkowitz, 1986) and model learning (Bandura, 1977), especially the exposure to
repeated positive portrayal of alcohol consumption or drug abuse in the absence of
negative consequences could lead to a positive and uncritical attitude towards alcohol
and drugs in general and increase the likelihood of alcohol use or drug abuse among
viewers.
Another health-related worry concerns long-term consequences that result from
unhealthy sexual behavior. As already mentioned, music videos with explicit sexual
content are expected to promote liberal sexual attitudes and behavior. Even more, if
music videos, like television in general, do not depict negative consequences, such as
teen-pregnancy or sexual transmitted diseases (Ward, 1995), viewers might develop a
rather uncritical or naïve view about sex; which may then lead to unhealthy sexual
behavior (e.g. unprotected sex, numerous sexual partners etc).
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A third concern is related to references to suicide and self-destructive behaviors in
music lyrics and their portrayal in music videos. Expecting modeling and priming
effects, researchers expressed their worries that the exposure to music videos with
suicidal content may lead to augmented accessibility of suicide-related thoughts and
perceptions, influence social attitudes regarding suicide and even enhance the personal
risk in committing suicide (e.g. Gore, 1987; Henry, 1990; Rustad et al., 2003).
All in all, researchers are concerned that certain contents portrayed in music videos
might produce adverse health effects in young people.
3
Empirical evidence
In the following section, I will investigate the validity of each of these hypotheses,
conducting a vote-counting analysis. Hereby, I will present the classifications and
operationalizations used in the various studies, report on a count of numbers of studies
that either produced or failed to produce statistically significant results in the
hypothesized direction and summarize these findings in tables to present a clear and
valuable overview of each hypothesis. Moreover, for each hypothesis, I will outline in
how far researchers included the aspect whether other variables, such as age, gender or
family environment possibly moderate the effects. To give more insights, I will also
shortly summarize the results of each study in a narrative way to illustrate the
procedures.
In organizing the vote-counting analysis, I gathered all relevant articles from
standardized computer-searchable databases (e.g. Web of Science, Picarta, PsychInfo
and Sociological Abstracts), using key search terms such as “effects” and “music
videos” but also “music videos” or “music television” in general as well as variations of
these terms such as “rock videos” or “MTV”. In addition, these publications were
examined to also locate articles, chapters and other reports that were not offered in these
databases. Ultimately, this review includes all 30 relevant studies on the effects of
music videos on adolescents and young adults published up to May 2007, some of them
assessing several dependent variables in one setting.
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3.1 Empirical evidence: Aggressive attitudes and behavior
A total of ten studies examined the direct relation between music videos and
aggressive attitudes and behavior in adolescents or young adults: Eight laboratory
experiments (Rehman & Reilly, 1985; Greeson & Williams, 1986; Peterson & Pfost,
1989; Hansen & Hansen, 1990; Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995; Johnson, Adams &
Ashburn, 1995; Wann & Wilson, 1996; Kalof 1999), one quasi-experiment (Waite,
Hillbrand & Foster, 1992), and one correlational study (Wingood, DiClemente,
Bernhardt, Harrington et al., 2003). Four of these ten studies were conducted among
teenagers aged between eleven and 18 (Greeson & Williams, 1986; Johnson, Adams &
Ashburn, 1995; Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995; Wingood et al., 2003), four among
undergraduate students, aged 17 to 22 years (Rehman & Reilly, 1985; Hansen &
Hansen, 1990; Peterson & Pfost, 1989; Kalof, 1999), and one among adults (Waite,
Hillbrand & Foster, 1992). One study does not report the age of the respondents (Wann
& Wilson, 1996). Concerning gender, two of the ten studies limited their research on
male respondents (Peterson & Pfost, 1989; Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995), one
focused only on female adolescents (Wingood et al., 2003), the other six tested male
and female participants.
The specific characteristics (sample size, age of participants, control variables, and
moderating variables) of the studies on the relation between music videos and
aggressive attitudes and behavior are presented in Table 1a, 1b and 1c. The right-hand
column of each table indicates the direction of the relation. As most studies do not
report comparable effect sizes, such an indication could not be included. All findings
reported in the tables are significant at least at a level of .05.
3.1.1 Classification and operationalization of aggressive or violent attitudes and
behavior
The experiments on the relation between music videos and aggressive attitudes
cover a wide range of issues related to aggression and violence: The assessment and
acceptance of aggressive (Greeson & Williams, 1986), hostile (Wann & Wilson, 1996)
or antisocial behavior in general (Hansen & Hansen, 1990), aggressive attitudes towards
women (Peterson & Pfost, 1989; Kalof, 1999), the acceptance of teen dating violence
(Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995; Johnson, Adams & Ashburn, 1995), and the
15
subjective perception of violence portrayed in music videos (Rehman & Reilly, 1985).
Even though the study of Johnson, Adams and Ashburn (1995) examined the relation
between the exposure to music videos and the disposition to engage in aggressive or
violent behavior, Waite et al. (1992) and Wingood et al. (2003) are the only researchers
investigating the impact of music videos on actual performed aggressive behavior, even
though one of them with inpatients of a forensic hospital. Except for the correlational
study, all other studies examined short-term effects only. No study examined media
cultivation effects of music videos.
The attitude towards the use of violence has been operationalized in several ways.
Some of the experiments used a rather simple and straightforward way to assess the
acceptance of interpersonal violence, asking the participants directly to indicate on a
Likert-type scale if the use of violence was an adequate reaction in a given situation
(Greeson & Williams, 1986; Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995; Johnson, Adams &
Ashburn, 1995). Others applied already tested scales that comprise different
components to measure aggressive or hostile attitudes: Peterson and Pfost (1989) as
well as Kalof (1999), for instance, used the “Student Sexual Attitudes” scale
(Malamuth, 1983), assessing four dependent measures of aggressive attitudes towards
women (adversarial sexual beliefs, sex-role stereotypes, rape myth acceptance and
acceptance of interpersonal violence). But whereas Kalof (1999) reported on the
relevant sub-scales “interpersonal violence” and “rape myth acceptance” independently
in the analysis, Peterson and Pfost (1989) only referred to the scale in one. Wann and
Wilson (1996) used the “Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory” (Buss & Durkee, 1957),
assessing cognitive, affective and behavioral components of hostility (assault,
irritability, indirect aggression, suspicion, resentment, negativism and verbal expression
of anger). Hansen and Hansen (1990) measured the acceptance of anti-social behavior
indirectly, asking the participants to evaluate an individual that had been observed
acting out antisocial behavior. The first part of this evaluation consisted of the direct
questions: “Based on your observations, what is your own personal reaction to Person
A? [Would you say] Person A seems like someone [you] would like personally”? (p
363). In the second part, the person was to be rated on 32 bipolar trait adjective scales.
To measure the perception of violence portrayed in music videos, Rehman and Reilly
(1985) built a “Violence Index”, using a modified version of Gerbner`s model of
quantifying televised violence (Gerbner, Gross, Jackson-Beeck, Jeffries-Fox &
Signorielli, 1978). Hereby, each music video was rated for its violence content on a
16
four-point scale, ranging from 0 for “not violent at all” to 3 for “extremely violent”
(Rehman & Reilly, 1985, p 63).
Aggressive behavior has also been operationalized in different ways. Similar to the
acceptance of aggressive behavior, Johnson, Adams and Ashburn (1995) measured the
disposition to violent behavior, simply asking the participants directly to indicate on a
Likert-type scale if they would use violence themselves in a given situation. In contrast,
Waite et al. (1992) examined the impact of music videos on actual aggressive behavior.
To measure this, they utilized the “Overt Aggression Scale” (Yudofsky, Silver, Jackson
et al., 1986), a tool for assessing inpatient violence that allows the hospital staff to
classify aggressive incidents in four categories (verbal, against objects, against others
and against oneself) and rate the severity of each occurrence. Wingood et al. (2003) also
assessed the occurrence of several aggressive or violent actions; nonetheless, in contrast
to Waite et al. (1992) they relied on the respondents` self-reported information. To
measure whether the exposure to rap music videos could predict aggressive behavior,
they asked the respondents whether they had hit a teacher, had been involved in a fight
or had been arrested and then compared the occurrences of each item at baseline and
after a 12-month follow-up period.
3.1.2 Laboratory experiments
Already in the early years of music television, Rehman and Reilly (1985) suggested
that the exposure to music videos containing violence would result in desensitization to
violence. To prove this, they arranged seven popular music videos in two different
sequences: First in an ascending and second in a descending order of violence. Then,
110 college students were divided into two groups. The first group viewed the sequence
of music videos with a descending violence index; the second viewed the sequence of
music videos with an ascending violence index. Thereby, the participants were asked to
rate each music video for its violent content. Comparative violence ratings showed that
in the descending order of violence, as the violence portrayed in the music videos
decreased, the violence ratings did also decrease. However, in case of the ascending
order of violence, the ratings did not rise as the violence portrayed in the music videos
increased. These results suggest that the participants indeed became desensitized to the
violence in music videos and that their judgment or perception of violence was lowered.
17
Greeson and Williams (1986) were among the first to explore the degree to which
music videos have an influence on adolescent attitudes and values. In their experiment,
64 seventh- and tenth-grade students were exposed to parts of MTV chosen either
randomly or for high-impact thematic content, which included music videos with
special reference to violence, sex and antiestablishment connotations. In addition, half
of the students in each video condition filled in a brief attitude survey on five issues
relating to adolescence before or after watching the music videos. Results showed that
the high-impact music videos increased the self-reported acceptance of violent behavior.
Peterson and Pfost (1989) had a closer look at the influence of rock music videos
with erotic and violent content on men`s attitude to aggression and violence against
women. For the experiment, 144 male students were randomly assigned to view a set of
videos representing one of four content categories: Erotic-violent, erotic-nonviolent,
nonerotic-violent or nonerotic-nonviolent content. After watching the music videos,
Peterson and Pfost assessed the participants` aggressive attitudes towards women as
well as their mood states, sexual arousal and their own chances to rape. The results of
their experiment indicated that music videos with the combination of nonerotic but
violent content produced more aggressive attitudes than videos with other content.
Mean mood states also showed differences on indicators of negative affect such as
frustration, anxiety, anger and offence, mean ratings were significantly higher in the
nonerotic-violent music video condition than for the other three conditions. Not
surprisingly, participants viewing music videos containing erotic content stated
significantly more arousal than those viewing music videos without erotic content in
what combination so ever. Chances to rape were not influenced by the exposure to any
type of music video. Thus, some types of rock music videos can promote indifferent and
adversarial orientation in men towards women, but does not lead to a greater likelihood
of raping.
Hansen and Hansen (1990) tested the effects of rock music videos on impressions of
antisocial behavior. In the experiment, the participants were told that the purpose of the
session was to evaluate two candidates who were trying out for jobs hosting a music
television show. Thus, subjects were instructed to form an opinion of the two people
and their personalities. After watching three rock music videos with either neutral or
antisocial content, the participants had an (apparently accidental) look at the backstage
conduct of the two candidates. Depending on the condition, one of the candidates either
made an obscene gesture towards the experimenter’s back after being reprehended
18
(antisocial behavior), or simply adjusted his clothes (neutral behavior). After this short
glimpse, the experimenter started the “official” interview, which was neutral and noncontroversial in both conditions. Subsequently, the participants rated both candidates.
Overall, participants that had watched neutral music videos rated the “manipulated”
candidate as less likeable, more threatening and more irrational when he made an
obscene gesticulation towards the female experimenter than when he did not. After
watching videos showing antisocial behavior, the portrayed antisocial action did not
diminish the likeability. Similar results were reported for trait ascriptions.
Consequently, it can be summarized that even a short exposure to antisocial rock music
videos produced an increased tolerance for antisocial behavior.
Johnson, Jackson and Gatto (1995) conducted an experiment on the impact of rap
music videos in particular. 46 African-American males were randomly assigned to
watch violent rap music videos, non-violent rap music videos or no music videos at all.
Then, the teenagers had to read a short story in which a jealous man attacked his
girlfriend as well as another man who competed for her attention. Subsequently,
participants were asked about their attitude towards the use of violence in the story and
how they would judge the likelihood that they themselves would react in a similar way.
Planned comparisons suggested that participants exposed to the violent rap music
videos generally expressed a greater acceptability of the use of violence against both the
young man and the young woman than participants in the non-violent exposure or in the
control group. Furthermore, compared to the participants in the control group, subjects
exposed to violent rap music videos also stated a significantly higher probability that
they would engage in violent action themselves.
In a subsequent experiment, Johnson, Adams and Ashburn (1995) discovered that
even non-violent rap music videos could increase adolescents` acceptance of teen dating
violence. In the experiment, 30 African American males and 30 African American
females were shown either non-violent rap videos in the exposure condition or no music
videos at all. Next, they had to read a comparable short story involving teen dating
violence asserted by a man and had to fill in a questionnaire about their perception of
the acceptance of such violent action against women. The results suggest that there was
a significant effect of exposure on the acceptability of violence. Participants who
watched a rap music video accepted the use of violence much more than those who
were not exposed to a video.
19
Wann and Wilson (1996) examined the effect of aggressive music videos on
hostility. Therefore, 56 participants were randomly assigned to either watch three
aggressive music videos or three non-aggressive ones. Before and after watching, the
participants` general hostility was assessed. However, analyses of the change in general
hostility did not yield any significant findings as a function of music video type.
Kalof (1999) explored the effects of gendered-stereotyped music video imagery on
various depended variables, including the acceptance of rape myth and interpersonal
violence. In the experiment, 44 college students were randomly assigned to watch either
music video segments that showed stereotypical images of gender and sexuality or
music video segments that rejected all kind of stereotypical images of gender and
sexuality. After watching the music videos, the participants completed a complex
questionnaire, including several attitudinal items. Results showed that exposure to
traditional sexual imagery did not significantly influence the acceptance of rape myths
or interpersonal violence.
3.1.3 Quasi-experiment
Waite at al. (1992) examined the impact of music television on aggressive behavior
of forensic patients. Over a period of 55 weeks, Waite at al. collected data on aggressive
behavior of 222 patients of a forensic hospital. Usually, at least one television set on
each ward of the hospital was continuously tuned to music television (MTV). But as a
consequence of signs of clinical deteriorations in some of the patients watching a lot,
the hospital administration decided to ban MTV from the patients` TV options. In their
study, Waite et al. reported on the effects of this removal on the aggressive behavior of
the forensic patients. Comparing the mean frequency of incidents per week, the removal
of MTV was associated with a significant decrease in the frequency of overt aggressive
behavior by 37 percent, only the frequency of incidents categorized as aggression
against oneself was not reduced significantly. In terms of severity of aggression, no
significant change was found in any of the four categories before and after the ban of
MTV.
20
Tables 1a, 1b and 1c will be inserted here
21
3.1.4 Correlational study
As a part of an HIV prevention program, Wingood et al. (2003) questioned 522
African American females living in non-urban neighborhoods with general low socioeconomic status. In a two-phase longitudinal study, participants had to report on their
music video viewing habits and, among others, if they had been engaged in aggressive
or violent behavior. Regression analysis revealed that, after controlling for covariates,
higher exposure to rap music videos was significantly correlated with aggressive or
violent behavior: Compared with participants having less exposure to rap music videos,
the probability was three times higher that they had hit a teacher and 2.5 times higher
that they had been arrested. For the likeability to get involved in a fight, the amount of
time spend watching music videos did not make any difference.
3.1.5 Moderating variables
In the experiments on the relation of music videos and aggressive or violent
attitudes and behavior, several moderating variables were considered. For instance,
Rehman and Reilly (1985) brought up the question whether the general exposure to
music television outside of the experimental setting would work as a moderating
variable. Indeed, results showed that subjects being more accustomed to watching music
videos as they had MTV in their rooms or their dormitories generally gave lower
violence ratings than those who did not have access to MTV. Greeson and Williams
(1986) examined the moderating effect of grade level. Their analysis disclosed that the
effect of greater acceptance of violent behavior after the exposure to high-impact music
videos in fact only hold for the tenth-graders and not for the younger students.
Surprisingly, for younger students, the same videos seemed to decrease the acceptance
of violent behavior compared to the exposure to random MTV, although this difference
was statistically not significant. The moderating effect of gender has been addressed in
three studies, with different outcomes. Hansen and Hansen (1990) did not find any
gender related differences between the exposure to antisocial rock music videos and the
acceptance of antisocial behavior. In contrast, Kalof (1999) reported a higher
acceptance of interpersonal violence for females than for males. In the experiment of
Johnson, Adam and Ashburn (1995), the positive correlation between the exposure to
music videos and the acceptance of teen dating violence even only applied for girls and
22
not for the boys who already showed a relatively high acceptance at baseline. Wann and
Wilson (1996) also addressed the possibility that there might be individual differences
moderating the effects of music videos. Tying up to previous research on psychological
endorsement of aggressive behavior, they tested if the locus of control had any impact
of individuals` self-reported aggressiveness after watching aggressive and nonaggressive music videos. The locus of control is the level to which people think that
they are in control of their environment. Individuals who think that they have a stake in
their surroundings are referred to as having an external locus of control, whereas
individuals who think that they have no influence are referred to as having an internal
locus of control (Baron & Richardson, 1994). For their experiment, Wann and Wilson
compared 14 men and 14 women scoring in the bottom 30% on Rotter`s locus of control
scale (Rotter, 1971), which identified them having an external locus of control, with 14
men and 14 women scoring in the top 30%, which identified them having an internal
locus of control. Contrary to the predictions, no moderating effect was found.
3.1.6 Summary empirical evidence: Aggressive attitudes and behavior
To summarize, seven out of eight experimental studies showed a relation between
the exposure to (violent) music videos and aggression. These findings suggest that even
short periods of watching can increase the acceptance of violence and aggression,
particularly of violent behavior against women, and may therefore encourage aggressive
or violent attitudes and behavior in adolescents. Moreover, one quasi-experiment and
one correlational study indicate a direct relation between the exposure to music videos
and actual increased aggressive or violent behavior, although one was conducted in the
rather specific field of forensic patients. Almost all of the studies examined short-term
effects only, predominantly with teenagers and undergraduate students.
3.2 Empirical evidence: Sexual attitudes and behavior
A total of eight studies investigated the direct relation between music videos and
sexual attitudes and behavior in adolescents: Four laboratory experiments (Greeson &
Williams, 1986; Calfin, Carroll & Shmidt, 1993; Lund & Blaedon, 2003; Kalof, 1999),
and four correlational studies (Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1987; Strouse, Goodwin &
Roscoe, 1994; Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss & Long, 1995; Wingood, DiClemente,
23
Bernhardt, Harrington et al., 2003). Four of these eight studies were carried out among
teenagers ranging in age from eleven to 18 (Greeson & Williams, 1986; Strouse,
Buerkel-Rothfuss & Long, 1995; Strouse, Goodwin & Roscoe, 1994, Wingood et al,
2003), and four among undergraduate students, aged between 18 to 24 years (Strouse &
Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1987; Calfin, Carroll & Shmidt, 1993; Kalof, 1999; Lund & Blaedon,
2003). Concerning gender, two of the six studies limited the research on female
respondents (Lund & Blaedon, 2003; Wingood et al., 2003), the other six tested male
and female participants.
The specific characteristics of the studies on the relation between music videos and
sexual attitudes and behavior as well as the direction of relation are presented in Table
2a and 2b. Again, as most studies do not report comparable effect sizes, such an
indication could not be included. All findings reported in the tables are significant at
least at a level of .05.
3.2.1 Classification and operationalization of sexual attitudes and behavior
The experiments and surveys on the relation between music videos and sexual
attitudes concentrate on a number of issues related to sexuality: Premarital sexual
attitudes (Greeson & Williams, 1986; Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1987; Calfin, Caroll
& Shmidt, 1993; Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss & Long, 1995; Lund & Blaedon, 2003), as
well as the perception and desensitization to sexual content (Lund & Blaedon, 2003),
but also the interaction of sexuality and aggression, such as attitudes towards sexual
harassment (Strouse, Goodwin & Roscoe, 1994), rape myth acceptance and adversarial
sexual beliefs (Kalof, 1994). Only two studies examined a direct relation between the
exposure to music videos and actual sexual behavior (Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss,
1987; Wingood et al., 2003).
Attitudes towards premarital sex have been conceptualized in several ways. As in
the case of aggression and violence, Greeson and Williams (1986) used a rather simple
and straightforward way to assess the acceptance of premarital sex, asking the
participants directly to indicate on a Likert-type scale if they “think that premarital sex
is ok for teenagers” (p 182). Others built questionnaires that comprised different
components to measure premarital sexual attitudes. Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss and Long
(2003) for instance, combined one attitudinal statement (“Young people should not have
sex before marriage”), one conditional statement (“Premarital sex is alright for a young
24
couple planning to get married”) and the question, how old the participant was when
he/she experienced the first sexual intercourse (p 511). Calfin, Caroll and Shmidt
(1993), went one step further, constructing an 18-item questionnaire, including stances
about premarital sex, masturbation and sexual stimulation. Similarly, Strouse and
Buerkel-Rothfuss (1987) combined several questions on attitudes and expectations
about love relationship involvements and sexuality, including items such as “ it`s ok to
be sexually involved with more than one person at the same time” or “love is not a
necessary component in all sexual relationships” (p 45). Nevertheless, in all three cases,
the items of the scales were selected by the authors “on the basis of being face valid”
(Calfin et al., 1993) and are thus not standardized; moreover, the validity and reliability
of the scales are unknown. Lund and Blaedon (2003) measured the participants` sexual
attitudes with the “Sexual Opinion Survey” (Gilbert & Gamache, 1984), which contains
twelve questions addressing sexual attitudes in general, being the only ones measuring
sexual attitudes with a pre-tested standardized operationalization. In addition, Lund and
Blaedon assessed the participants` perception and desensitization to sexual content,
asking the respondents to rate five sexual scenarios for their appropriateness and level
of sexual content on a 7-point-Likert scale. Kalof (1999) operationalized sexual
attitudes in a completely different way, using the “Sexual Attitude Scale” (Burt, 1980).
Nonetheless, for the examination of the influence of music videos on sexual attitudes
only the items on adversarial sexual beliefs were considered. Strouse, Goodwin and
Roscoe (1994) too examined the interaction between sexuality and aggression, namely
the attitudes towards sexual harassment. To this end, they applied the “Sexual
Harassment Attitude Scale” which assesses the acceptance of several unwanted
behaviors that are commonly referred to as sexual harassment in civil right guidelines
and research dealing with sexual harassment (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,
1981).
For the operationalization of actual sexual behavior, Wingood et al. (2003) simply
asked their respondents if they had been engaged with multiple sexual partners within
the last 12 months. If so, this was classified as liberal sexual behavior. Strouse and
Buerkel-Rothfuss (1987) also asked for the numbers of sexual partners as an indicator
for liberal sexual behavior.
25
3.2.2 Laboratory experiments
In their experiment already described in the paragraph about the effects of music
videos on aggressive attitudes and behavior, Greeson and Williams (1986) also
examined the influence of music videos on sexual attitudes. Hereby, they found a
significant effect for the approval of teenage premarital sex. Students that first watched
the music videos tended to accept premarital sex more often than the ones that filled in
the questionnaire before being exposed to music television.
Calfin, Carroll and Shmidt (1993) also explored the association of music videos and
premarital sexual attitudes. In their experiment, 151 students were assigned to watch
either a music video with a non-erotic but romantic or a pure erotic theme. Participants
assigned to the control group did not watch any music video at all. Subsequently, the
participants answered several questions on their sexual attitudes. Chi-squared analyses
revealed that in general, participants watching the erotic video expressed more liberal
attitudes on premarital sex than participants assigned to either of the two other groups,
whereby the control group was least favorable towards premarital sexual relations.
Kalof (1999), whose experiment has already been introduced in the previous
paragraph, also explored the effects of gendered-stereotyped music video imagery on
sexual attitudes. Regarding sexuality, results showed that exposure to traditional sexual
imagery did significantly influence attitudes about adversarial sexual relationships,
participants showed an increased endorsement on adversarial sexual relationships after
the exposure to stereotypical images.
Lund and Blaedon (2003) conducted an experiment among 120 female students,
focusing on the role of television on sexual attitudes and perceptions. In line with the
cover story, the participants first had to wait for ten minutes, either in a room where
sexual explicit music videos were playing or in a room with no television. Then, the
students were asked about their television viewing habits and sexual attitudes in general,
moreover they had to rate five sexual scenarios for their level of sexual content as well
as for appropriateness. Findings suggested a desensitization to sexual content as a result
of prior exposure to the music videos: Participants that were exposed to the music
videos before filling in the questionnaire were less likely to rate the presented scenarios
as sexual than the women who did not view the videos. Nonetheless, no priming effects
were found on the ratings of appropriateness or the participants` sexual attitudes in
general.
26
Tables 2a and 2b will be inserted here
27
3.2.3 Correlational studies
Examining media consumption as well as sexual attitudes and behaviors, Strouse
and Buerkel-Rothfuss (1987) conducted a survey with 457 college students. Controlling
for various variables, such as religiosity, university status, level of self-esteem, sources
of sexual information, level of relationship commitment, and degree of parental comfort
in discussing sex, especially MTV consumption proved to be positively correlated to
liberal attitudes towards sexual permissiveness. Moreover, regression analyses revealed
that the exposure to music television was the most potent predictor of number of sexual
partners.
Strouse, Goodwin and Roscoe (1994) researched if there is an interaction between
the exposure of pop music videos and attitudes toward sexual harassment among early
adolescents. Therefore, Strouse et al. conducted a survey among 458 seventh- and
eights-graders from several middle schools in the US, including items to measure the
respondents` attitudes towards sexual harassment. In addition, the participants were
asked about their exposure and involvement with popular music and music videos.
Overall, results showed a positive correlation between the exposure and involvement
with music videos and the acceptance of attitudes towards sexual harassment.
Consequently, Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss and Long (1995) conducted another
survey with 214 high school students, this time examining the interaction between the
exposure of pop music videos and premarital sexual permissiveness. The results of this
survey showed a general positive correlation of exposure and involvement to music
videos and premarital sexual permissiveness.
In the survey already presented in the paragraph about the effects of music videos
on aggressive attitudes and behavior, Wingood et al. (2003) also investigated if the
exposure to rap music videos is associated with more liberal sexual behavior.
Regression analysis revealed that, after controlling for covariates, higher exposure to
rap music videos was significantly correlated with liberal sexual behavior: The
probability that the respondents had been involved with multiple sexual partners was
twice as high as for participants with a low exposure to rap music videos.
28
3.2.4 Moderating variables
All experiments that included moderating variables in their analysis did not yield
any significant results. These studies did not find a moderating effect for neither grade
level (Greeson & Williams, 1986) and gender (Calfin, Carroll & Shmidt, 1993; Kalof,
1999) nor the general TV viewing time (Lund & Blaedon, 2003). In contrast, some of
the correlational studies revealed moderating influences. Strouse and Buerkel-Rothfuss
(1987) for instance found a greater positive correlation of exposure to music television
and attitudes towards sexual permissiveness for females than for males. This difference
is in line with current research on sexual socialization that suggests that females usually
learn that they are socially supposed to set limits on sexual engagements and
subsequently have more room to change their permissiveness in a liberal direction than
males. Furthermore, female sexuality seems to be more influenced by external factors
than is male sexuality (Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss & Long, 2003). The hours of general
TV viewing did not prove to be a moderating factor. Strouse, Goodwin and Roscoe
(1994) as well as Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss and Long (1995) not only distinguished
between boys and girls but also introduced the influence of family environment as a
moderating factor. As the family is considered to be the primary agent of socialization,
especially having a dominating weight during the formative years, they expected the
family environment to be a strong correlate for sexual attitudes and sexual
permissiveness. Therefore, family environment was included in the analyses, assessed
with three questions about family intactness, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the
family in general and with the question if the participant ever thought of running away
from home. The correlational study of Strouse, Goodwin and Roscoe (1994) revealed a
moderating effect for both gender and family environment. Particularly girls involved in
popular music and music videos were more likely to accept attitudes towards sexual
harassment. Furthermore, especially a combination of extensive exposure to pop music
videos and an unsatisfactory or non-intact family environment was strongly and
positively correlated with acceptance of sexual harassment. Strouse, Buerkel-Rothfuss
and Long (1995) found similar moderating effects regarding the positive correlation of
the exposure and involvement to music videos and premarital sexual permissiveness.
Again, this correlation became even stronger for females and participants coming from
unsatisfactory family environments.
29
3.2.5
Summary empirical evidence: Sexual attitudes and behavior
To summarize, all four experiments and all four correlational studies showed a
relation between the exposure to (sexual explicit) music videos and sexuality. These
findings imply that even short periods of watching can desensitize to sexual content and
promote more liberal sexual attitudes, especially towards premarital sex and sexual
permissiveness. Moreover, the studies revealed that the exposure to sexual explicit
imagery in music videos can lead to a greater acceptance of violent sexuality, such as an
increased endorsement on adversarial sexual relationships or even sexual harassment.
Hereby, gender and family environment seem to be moderating variables worth
mentioning. Nevertheless, only two correlational studies point at a direct relation
between the exposure to music videos and actual increased liberal sexual behavior,
indicating that respondents who watched more music videos were more likely to engage
with multiple sexual partners. Six out of the seven studies have examined short-term
effects only, all with teenagers and undergraduate students.
3.3 Empirical evidence: Stereotypical gender schemas
A total of eight studies examined the direct relation between music videos and
stereotypical gender or sex role schemas in adolescents: Seven laboratory experiments
(Hansen & Hansen, 1988; Hansen, 1989; Hansen & Krygowski, 1994; Kalof, 1999;
Ward, Hansbrough & Walker, 2005; Gan, Zillmann & Mitrook, 1997), and one
integrated correlational study (Ward, Hansbrough & Walker, 2005). Only the two
studies reported in Ward et al. (2005) were conducted among teenagers ranging in age
from 14 to 18, the other six were carried out among undergraduate students, aged
between 18 and 22 years. Concerning gender, all studies tested the impact of music
videos on stereotypical gender schemas on male and female participants.
As for the previous two hypotheses, the specific characteristics of the studies on the
relation between music videos and stereotypical gender schemas and the direction of
relation are summarized in Table 3a and 3b. Again, effect sizes are not included; all
findings reported in the tables are significant at least at a level of .05.
30
3.3.1 Classification and operationalization of stereotypical gender schemas
The experiments and surveys on the relation between music videos and stereotypical
gender schemas mainly concentrate on priming effects. In general, the authors argue
that the perceived character traits and conduct presented in music videos provide
information that will be generalized to other members of the population. In order to
show this effect, six out of seven studies compared how participants perceive and
evaluate the same person differently according to a previous stimulus presented in
music videos. Whereas in some of the experiments, such a comparison was done for
several gender stereotypical character traits (Hansen & Hansen, 1988; Hansen, 1989;
Hansen & Krygowski, 1994), others summarized different character traits into factors
for “Badness” and “Goodness” (Gan, Zillmann & Mitrook; 1997, p 387f) or “superficial
and stereotypical gender attributes” and “more substantive qualities” (Ward,
Hansbrough & Walker, 2005, p 152) and compared these. Moreover, four studies
examined attitudes on gender related behavior (Hansen, 1989; Kalof, 1999; Ward,
Hansbrough & Walker, 2005). However, these were operationalized in different ways:
Whereas Hansen (1989) simply compared the likeability of male and female characters
acting out gender typical or untypical behavior, Kalof (1999) and Ward et al. (2005)
measured the participants` endorsement of gender and sexual stereotypes using specific
scales. Unfortunately, Kalof (1999) did not give any further details about the composure
of the 10-item-scale used to assess gender-role stereotyping in her study. In contrast,
Ward et al. (2005) combined two different measures: The “Attitudes Toward Woman
Scale for Adolescents” (Galambos, Petersen, Richards & Gitelson, 1995) to consider
general attitudes about appropriate behavior for both men and women as well as an
adaptation of the “Attitudes Toward Dating and Relationships Measure” (Ward &
Rivadeneyra, 1999), reflecting stereotypical ideas about relationships presented on
television.
3.3.2 Laboratory experiments and the integrated correlational study
Hansen and Hansen (1988) researched the circumstances, in which sex role schemas
of persons and social interactions can be activated through the exposure to rock music
videos portraying such sexual stereotypes. According to the assigned video condition,
221 participants either watched rock music videos that portrayed stereotypical sex roles
31
or some that where neutral in this respect. Then, the participants were exposed to a
(replicated) scene where a woman applied for a job with a male boss. In the first part of
the job interview, the boss was seen making sexual advances towards her. Depending on
the condition, the women either reciprocated the advances or not. Subsequently, in the
second part of the job interview, he either derogated or praised the female job applicant.
At the end of the experiment the participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire about
their appraisal of the two persons and their interaction. Results showed that after
watching rock music videos portraying stereotyped sex roles, the participants were more
likely to activate stereotypical gender schemas, judging the actors according to the
presented stereotypes, than after watching a neutral music video. For instance,
following the stereotypical rock music videos, the women was judged less dominant and
less threatening, but more sexual, more sensitive, more sympathetic and more
competent when she reciprocated the male advances than when she did not. In neutral
prime condition, participants by and large formed similar impressions of the women, no
matter how she reacted on the male advances. Moreover, stereotypic schemas in rock
music videos appeared to “clean” the male power. Whereas after the neutral videos
power was connected to sexual bullying, this negative connotation disappeared for the
participants having watched the stereotypical music videos.
One year later, Hansen (1989) undermined these results in two other experiments. In
the first experiment, 78 students participated. In a first step, the participants watched
three rock music videos and a (performed) job interview, similar to the interaction in the
experiment of Hansen and Hansen (1988). Depending on the experimental script
condition, the man and the woman acted according to either a reciprocation-praise (boymeets-girls) or a non-reciprocation-derogation (boy-dumps-girl) script. Moreover,
depending on the video prime condition, this behavior was consistent with, inconsistent
with or irrelevant to the schema activated by the music videos seen before.
Subsequently, the participants were tested on their recall of the interaction and had to
evaluate both actors. Findings suggest that participants produced a significantly greater
and more accurate recall of the actors` behaviors when the interaction was not
consistent with the schema presented in priming videos than with matching schemas.
Furthermore, both actors were evaluated more positively and liked more when their
behavior was consistent with the schema in the video than when it was schemainconsistent.
32
This enhanced likeability after schema-consistent priming was also found in the
second experiment (Hansen, 1989) with 122 students. Instead of recalling the scripted
event, this time the participants had to evaluate both actors. Compatibly to the first
experiment, both actors were ascribed more positive personality traits when the
performed behavior was congruent to the primed schema than when the schema was
inconsistent. For instance, in the schema-consistent condition, the male actor was rated
significantly higher on the characteristics “nice guy” as well as on “masculineattractive” and lower on “sexual-aggressive” than in the schema-inconsistent condition;
the female actor was judged higher on characteristics such as “pleasant”, “sexual”,
“skillful” as well as “charismatic” and lower on “threatening”. Whereas the man was
liked equally in both scenarios (either boy-meets-girl or boy-dumps-girl), for the female
actor, the patterns of effects were more complex. After a stereotypical priming, the
woman was liked more when she reciprocated the man`s advances than when she turned
him down. After the neutral video condition, this pattern reversed. All in all, the
portrayal of a sex-role stereotypical behavior in rock music videos was discovered to
have a significant and predictable effect on memory, impressions and appraisal of a man
and woman performing a sex-role stereotypical social interaction. Such sex-role
stereotypical music videos did not only seem to have a rather clear-cut impact on the
assessment of the male and female actors` behavior, but the patterns of effects on
evaluation imply that different schemas were used to encode the event after the
exposure to stereotypical music videos than after the exposure to neutral ones.
Hansen and Krygowski (1994) extended the series of experiments on gender
stereotypical priming effects. In their study, 163 students were instructed to watch a
music video that portrayed either a sexually attractive or a sexually unattractive
protagonist, and a following TV commercial with an attractive male/female actor but
sexually neutral content. At the end of the session, the participants were asked to rate
the actors of the TV commercial on several attributes. Results showed that the actors in
commercials were described with very different attributes after different music videos,
each time resembling the characteristics of the actor portrayed in the priming music
video.
Gan, Zillmann and Mitrook (1997) examined a possible stereotypical effect in
combination with ethnic or racial differences. In the experiment, the reactions of 55
White male and female students were analyzed. Depending on the video condition, the
participants were randomly assigned to either watch music videos of romantic love
33
songs or sexually stimulating rap, whereby all the performers presented in the music
videos were Black women. Next, the participants were asked to evaluate a series of
portrait photos of White and Black women. A control group completed the evaluation
without having watched any music videos before. Comparing the evaluations, it showed
that whereas the content of the music video was irrelevant for the rating of the White
females, the exposure to sexually stimulating music videos of Black performers
activated stereotypical gender schemas and resulted in the downgrading of positive and
the upgrading of negative character traits. These results suggest that perceptual priming
of the music videos only influence the rating of individuals falling in the same
conceptual category, in this case in ethnic categories.
In Kalof`s experiment (1999), already presented in the paragraphs on the effects of
gendered-stereotyped music video imagery on aggressive and sexual attitudes, she also
assessed if these music videos have an impact on attitudes on gender related behavior.
Nevertheless, the experiment did not yield any significant results regarding the
participants` attitudes on gender-role stereotyping.
Ward, Hansbrough and Walker (2005) had a closer look at how the exposure to
music videos affects the recipients` conception of masculinity and femininity. First,
Ward et al. conducted a survey with 148 high school students, asking questions about
their exposure to different media outlets (including music videos) and the participants`
general attitudes on gender related behavior. As hypothesized, results of the survey
suggested that more regular watching of music videos was linked to more traditional
gender role positions, controlling for sex and age. All in all, high exposure to music and
music videos emerged as the most consistent and strongest correlates of gender
stereotyping of all surveyed media outlets. Moreover, participants with higher exposure
to music videos allocated greater importance to more superficial and stereotypical
gender attributes, such as rich, cool or athletic, than to more substantive qualities, such
as intelligent, good sense of humor or being nice.
Second, 115 of those students also participated in an experiment to inspect the
impact of specific stereotypical content portrayed in commercial hip-hop and rap music
videos on adolescents` gender role expectations. The participants were divided into two
groups, one group watching music videos high in content emphasizing the several
gender stereotypes such as for instance women being sexual objects and men being
“players”, men being physically and emotionally hard, needing material wealth as a
symbol of power and masculinity, the other group watching music videos that were
34
rated neutral in this respect. Then, the researchers measured the participants`
endorsement and the importance of sexual and gender stereotypes. The results of the
experiment supported the findings from the survey. Although students in both the
experimental and the control group were similar in their demographic backgrounds,
media use and baseline gender stereotyping, those participants having watched music
videos portraying gender and sexual stereotypical behavior showed stronger support of
sexual stereotypes and of the importance of superficial gender attributes than
participants exposed to neutral music videos.
3.3.3 Moderating variables
Besides the independent variables, several other variables were included in the
experiments. Hansen (1989) and Kalof (1999), for instance, investigated if male and
female participants react differently to the exposure of music videos with stereotypical
images of gender or sexuality. However, their analyses did not reveal any significant
differences for gender as a moderating variable. Hansen and Krygowski (1994) tested
their predictions from the arousal-extremity model which suggest that social
information processing can be affected by physiological arousal (e.g. Clark, 1982;
Stangor, 1990). Therefore, they divided the participants not only in two experimental
video conditions, but also in two arousal conditions. While watching, the participants
had to pedal on an exercise bicycle at a low speed (low-activity condition) or a high
speed (high-activity condition). Results suggest that the priming effects were further
amplified and more closely resembled music video content when the participants were
highly aroused by physical exercise. Ward, Hansbrough and Walker (2005) investigated
if the impact of stereotypical images portrayed in music videos on adolescents might be
moderated by other variables such as age, level of entertainment and identification with
characters shown in the music videos. In fact, a closer look at the participants within the
experimental group indicated that some adolescents may be more susceptible to these
effects: Younger students, students who found the music videos more entertaining and
those who identified more with the characters or actors in the clips tended to endorse the
gender stereotypes more than others. Other moderating variables were not reported.
35
Tables 3a and 3b will be inserted here
36
3.3.4 Summary empirical evidence: Stereotypical gender schemas
To summarize, five of six experiments as well as the integrated correlational study
showed a relation between the exposure to music videos and gender stereotypical
behavior. These findings imply that even short periods of watching can activate and
reinforce stereotypical gender schemas, especially if the evaluated person or situation is
consistent to one presented in the music video. Moreover, the studies revealed that the
exposure to music videos portraying stereotypical images of gender and sexuality can
also influence attitudes on gender related behavior, encouraging more traditional gender
role positions. Some of the studies indicate that these effects might be moderated by
arousal, age, level of entertainment and the level of identification with the characters
presented in the music videos. All studies have examined short-term effects only, all
with teenagers and undergraduate students.
3.4 Empirical evidence: Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness
Although effects on body image have been of vital interest in media research in the
last years (see e.g. Wykes & Gunter, 2005 for a review), only two studies could be
found that deal with a direct relation between the exposure to music videos and body
image in adolescents: One laboratory experiment (Tiggemann & Slater, 2003), and one
correlational study (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996). Hereby, the experiment
investigated the effects of music videos on female students, aged between 18 to 30
years; the correlational study examined female high school students with a mean age of
15. No studies have looked at the effects of music videos and body image on male
teenagers and adolescents so far.
Although only two studies examined the relation of music videos and body image,
here as well the specific characteristics (sample size, age of participants, control
variables, and moderating variables) and the direction of relation are summarized in
Table 4a and 4b. All results are significant at least at a level of .05.
37
3.4.1 Classification and operationalization of body dissatisfaction and drive for
thinness
Both Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) as well as Tiggemann and Slater (2003)
assessed the influence of music videos in adolescent women`s body dissatisfaction. In
addition, Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) examined if the exposure to music videos
might be related to attitudes and behavior indicating tendencies of eating disorders. In
the survey, Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) assessed body dissatisfaction with a simple
7-point Likert scale, asking the students to indicate how satisfied they are with their
body, ranging from 1 for “very satisfied” to 7 for “very dissatisfied” (p 200).
Tiggemann and Slater (2003) used a more differentiated operationalization of their main
dependent variable. In order to be able to see fluctuations and changes, the authors
measured the current body satisfaction and mood for all participants with eight “Visual
Analog Scales” (VAS, Heinberg and Thompson, 1995) before and after the exposure to
music videos. Hereby, the participants were asked to place a mark on a 10-cm
horizontal line with end points tagged “none” and “very much“ to indicate how they
feel on several dimensions: Angry, anxious and depressed (negative mood); confident
and happy (positive mood) as well as physically attractive, fat, satisfied with my body
in size and shape (body satisfaction) (p 51).
To evaluate the students` drive for thinness, Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) used
the pre-tested “Drive for Thinness Subscale” of the Eating Disorder Inventory,
developed by Garner, Olmsted and Polivy (1983) to assess attitudinal and behavioral
features of eating disorders. This scale entails several items concerning preoccupation
with weight, excessive attention of dieting and the fear of weight gain.
3.4.2 Laboratory experiment
In Tiggemann and Slater`s experiment (2003), 84 female students were randomly
assigned to watch six music video clips that either purposely featured thin and attractive
women (appearance video clip) or music videos that featured ordinary-looking people
and shots that did not highlight female thinness and attractiveness (non-appearance
video clip). After watching the music videos, one half of the participants in each group
were handed out questions that encouraged a comparison between their own bodies and
the bodies of the women from the video clip, the other half of the participants were
38
assigned to rate the music videos for boredom and creativity. In addition, the
researchers measured the participants` mood and body dissatisfaction before and after
the exposure to the music videos. Results showed that the exposure of music videos
with thin, attractive women made the participants feel significantly fatter, less
physically attractive, less confident and less satisfied with their body than participants
from the non-appearance video group. Changes in mood could not be found. Moreover,
the analysis revealed that music videos portraying thin attractive women elicited more
comparison. Overall, watching thin ideal body images in music clips produced
increased body dissatisfaction, mediated by social comparison, but had no big impact on
the mood of the participants.
3.4.3 Correlational study
Looking at the role of television in adolescent women`s body dissatisfaction and
drive for thinness, Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) also examined the role of music
videos in this process. Therefore, questionnaires were handed out to 94 female students,
asking for how much and what categories of program they had watched in the previous
week. Moreover, body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness were assessed. Whereas the
amount of television watched did not reveal any correlation, the exposure to music
videos predicted a drive for thinness, but no body dissatisfaction.
3.4.4 Moderating variables
Whereas in the experiment, Tiggemann and Slater (2003) did not incorporate any
moderating variable in the analysis, Tiggemann and Pickering (1996) checked if the
girls` body mass index (BMI) or the general television time also influence the effect of
music videos on the dependent variables body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness.
Contrary to prediction, no significant moderating effects could be found.
39
Tables 4a and 4b will be inserted here
40
3.4.5 Summary empirical evidence: Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness
All in all, both the experiment and the correlational study indicate a relation
between the exposure to music videos and negative consequences for women`s body
image, mediated by social comparison. But whereas Tiggemann and Slater`s (2003)
experiment found a direct impact of music videos on the participants` body image,
Tiggemann and Pickering`s (1996) correlational study could not support this result.
Nonetheless, the survey revealed a correlation between the time spent watching music
videos and a drive for thinness and thus a disposition for eating disorders. These
findings imply that even short periods of watching can have an influence on how
adolescents perceive themselves which might enhance their wish to be thinner and more
attractive, regardless of their actual height and weight. Both studies examined the
impact of music videos on issues of body image on women; no studies have been done
on male recipients of music videos.
3.5 Empirical evidence: Health risk behavior and adverse health effects
A total of five studies examined the direct relation between the exposure to music
videos and health risk behavior or the occurrence of adverse health effect for young
people: Two laboratory experiments (Greeson & Williams, 1986; Rustad, Small, Jobes,
Safer & Peterson, 2003), and three correlational studies (Robinson, Chen & Killen,
1998; Van den Bulck & Beullens, 2005; Wingood et al., 2003). All five studies were
conducted among teenagers between the age of 13 and 18. Whereas Wingood et al.
(2003) limited their study on female students; the four other studies examined both male
and female participants.
The specific characteristics of the studies on the relation between music videos and
health risk behavior as well as the direction of relation are presented in Table 5a and 5b.
Again, as most studies do not report comparable effect sizes, such an indication could
not be included. All findings reported in the tables are significant at least at a level of
.05.
41
3.5.1 Classification and operationalization of health risk behavior and adverse
health effects
The experiments on the relation between music videos and health risk behavior
cover four different areas: Alcohol consumption (Robinson, Chen & Killen, 1998; Van
den Bulck & Beullens, 2005; Wingood et al., 2003), drug abuse (Greeson & Williams,
1986; Wingood et al., 2003), adverse health effect resulting from risky sexual behavior
(Wingood et al., 2003) and suicide (Rustad et al., 2003). Thereby, Greeson and
Williams (1986) as well as Rustad et al. (2003) mainly referred to attitudes and
emotions towards health risk behavior, the other researchers assessed changes in
(although self-reported) actual behavior in relation to the exposure to music videos.
As for the previous hypotheses, operationalizations for the dependent variables
differed between the studies. Concerning the consumption of alcohol, Robinson et al.
(1998) and Wingood et al. (2003) simply differentiated whether the respondents drank
alcohol at all or whether they were non-drinkers. With the second wave of the survey,
the researchers then compared whether the respondents maintained or changed their
drinking habits during the follow-up period. In contrast, Van den Bulck and Beullens
(2005) assessed the quantity of alcohol consumption while going out. To this end, they
asked the respondents how many alcoholic drinks they usually drank when going to a
bar, party or disco. Response categories ranged from “never”, “1 or 2” to “9 or more” (p
250). Regarding drug abuse, researchers also examined two different variables. Whereas
Greeson and Williams (1986) assessed the acceptance of drug abuse, simply asking the
participants to indicate on a 5-point Likert-type scale if they agree that “Teenagers
should be allowed to use drugs if they wish” (p 182), Wingood et al. (2003) recorded
whether the respondents themselves had been using drugs, such as tranquilizers,
marijuana, amphetamines, LSD, cocaine or crack. To explore sexual risk behavior,
Wingood et al. (2003) similarly asked the respondents directly if they used condoms
when getting sexually active. Moreover, they tested the adolescents for three sexually
transmitted diseases (chlamydia, trichomoniasis and gonorrhea). To examine the impact
of music videos with reference to suicide and self-destructive behaviors on the
participants` thoughts and attitudes about suicide, Rustad et al. (2003) used several
measures. First of all, they assessed the participants` mood before and after the exposure
to the music videos, asking them to rate how they were feeling at the moment on ten
negative and ten positive mood adjectives from the “Positive and Negative Affect
42
Schedule” (PANSAS; Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988). Second, the researchers
measured the occurrence of suicide-related thoughts as a reaction to the presented music
videos. Therefore, participants were asked to write stories in reaction to three stimulus
pictures taken from the “Thematic Apperception Test” (TAT; Murray, 1943). The
answers were then rated independently for the presence of dysphoria, hostility, selfdestructive impulse and imminent/completed suicide. As a third measure, the
researchers assessed whether the exposure to music videos with suicidal content
resulted in an increased perception of suicidality in others. Fourth, the respondents were
asked to estimate the probability of ten adverse events, including that they themselves
would commit suicide. Fifth, to measure the general acceptance of suicide, the students
completed a 26-item subset of the “Suicide Opinion Questionnaire” (SOQ; Domino,
Moore, Westlake & Gibson, 1982).
3.5.2 Laboratory experiments
In their experiment already presented in the previous paragraphs, Greeson and
Williams (1986) examined, among other variables, the influence of music videos on the
acceptance of drug abuse. Comparing the experimental groups, no significant effect
could be found for a relation between the exposure to music videos and the acceptance
of the use of illegal substances. Nonetheless, as the music videos shown as stimulus
material did not entail explicit portrayal of drug use, it is questionable in how far this
experiment actually explored the mechanisms outlined in the hypothesis.
Rustad, Small, Jobes, Safer and Peterson (2003) had a look at a possible correlation
of music videos and suicide-related thoughts and attitudes. 133 college students either
watched a music video with suicidal content or a neutral music video. Then they filled
in a questionnaire measuring the actual mood, priming of suicidal thoughts, attitudes
and beliefs about suicide, sensitivity to suicide in others and their perceptions of
personal risk. Findings suggest that although music videos portraying or mentioning
suicide seemed to prime implicit cognitions associated with suicide, the exposure to
such a music video did not affect the personal risk of committing suicide, neither did it
change the attitude regarding the normality and acceptability of suicide in general.
Moreover, even the reported priming effects only happened to relatively few
participants at all.
43
Tables 5a and 5b will be inserted here
44
3.5.3 Correlational studies
Robinson, Chen and Killen (1998) examined whether the exposure to music videos
and other media outlets at baseline could predict the alcohol use of adolescents over an
18-month follow-up period. Therefore, Robinson et al. conducted a follow-up survey
with 1533 ninth-grade students from different public high schools. According to the
self-reported alcohol use in the first wave, students were divided into baseline lifetime
drinkers and non-drinkers; the analysis was then executed separately for both groups.
Besides alcohol use, students were also asked questions on their media use, including
how many hours they watch music videos. Findings showed that watching music videos
and television were independent risk factors for the beginning of alcohol use in
adolescents, but not for the maintenance of drinking. Odds ratios showed that for
baseline non-drinkers, every raise of one hour per day of viewing music videos was
associated with an 31% increased risk of starting to drink alcohol during the next 18
months, controlling for sex, ethnicity, age and other media use. For students that already
drank alcohol before, no significant effect could be reported.
Van den Bulck and Beullens (2005) also looked at the longitudinal relationship
between the exposure to music videos or music television and alcohol consumption.
Therefore, they reanalyzed data from the first and second wave (one year later) of the
Leuven Study on Media and Adolescent Health (SOMAH) which included
standardized, self-reported data on the daily exposure to music video programs and
drinking behavior of 1648 Belgium secondary school students. Regression analysis
predicted that the amount of music video viewing was positively related to the quantity
of alcohol consumed while going out. A similar but independent correlation was found
for television viewing in general. These results even remained significant after
controlling for school year, gender, smoking, previous drinking and puberty status.
Thus, respondents who watched more music television and were exposed to television
more often were more likely to consume more alcoholic drinks while going out one year
later than others.
In their study already presented in the previous paragraphs, Wingood et al. (2003)
also investigated if the exposure to rap music videos is associated with the use of drugs
and alcohol and, in addition, with unsafe sex and the occurrence of sexually transmitted
diseases over the follow-up period of 12 months. Regression analysis revealed that,
after controlling for covariates, higher exposure to rap music videos was significantly
45
correlated with several health risk behavior and adverse health effects: Participants with
a high exposure to rap music videos were more than 1.5 times more likely to have
consumed alcohol as well as drugs and to have caught a new sexual transmitted disease
in the following 12 months than subjects with only few exposure. Regarding the use of
condoms, no differences could be found.
3.5.4 Moderating variables
Examining the effects of music videos on health risk behavior, Greeson and
Williams (1986) were the only ones that considered a moderating variable to influence
the direct relation. In their analysis they differentiated according to the grade level of
the participants. Nonetheless, no moderating effect could be found for the relation
between the exposure to music video and the acceptance of drug abuse.
3.5.5 Summary empirical evidence: Health risk behavior and adverse health effects
All in all, four out of five studies revealed a relation between the exposure to music
videos and health risk behavior or adverse health effects. In the area of alcohol
consumption, all three correlational studies disclosed a positive correlation between
music video watching and the consummation of alcoholic beverages, although with
some slight variations. Concerning the effects on drug abuse, the findings are not as
obvious: Whereas the experimental study did not yield any differences, the correlational
study revealed that respondents who had watched more rap music videos were more
likely to have used drugs within the next 12 months than those with only low exposure
to rap music videos. The same study also found some evidence for a relation between
the exposure to music videos and sexual health risk behavior: Respondents who
watched more rap music videos were more likely to catch new sexually transmitted
diseases within the next 12 months. Concerning suicide, the experiment disclosed an
increased occurrence of suicide-related thoughts and negative mood after the exposure
to music video with suicidal content; nevertheless, general attitudes and beliefs about
suicide as well as the perceived personal risk were not influenced. Whereas the two
experiments examined short-term effects only, the three follow-up surveys looked at
longitudinal effects. Overall, these findings point at the possibility that the exposure to
46
music videos might indeed promote health risk behavior which may then lead to adverse
effects on the adolescents` health.
3.6 Empirical evidence: Other effects
Although most studies on the effects of music videos could be categorized into the
five hypotheses presented in the previous paragraphs, four experiments about the effect
of music video and imagination (Greenfield, Bruzzone, Koyamatsu et al., 1987),
academic aspirations (Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995) and ethnic division in a student
government election (Zillmann, Aust, Hoffman et al., 1995) did not fit. However, to
ensure a complete and systematic review, I will now shortly summarize these
experiments as well.
3.6.1 Laboratory experiments
In two relatively small-scaled experiments, Greenfield, Bruzzone, Koyamatsu et al.
(1987) tried to find out if the exposure to music videos might have a negative effect on
imaginative activity. In the first experiment, 26 fifth- and sixth graders were divided
into two groups. One group was assigned to listen to four songs on an audio tape, the
other group watched the corresponding music videos in a different room. Each
participant was handed a questionnaire and asked to answer a couple of questions after
each song. Subsequently, both groups were reassembled for a group discussion and
encouraged to discuss two key questions: “If you were going to make a video about the
song, what would it be about?” and “If you were to add another verse, what would it be
about” (p 322). To measure the level of stimulation of imagination, Greenfield et al.
allocated the participants` answers to imaginative responses that did not draw on the
immediately preceding stimulus, containing additional information not provided by the
songs or the music videos and to less imaginative responses, containing mainly
confirming information referring to the previous stimulus material. Counting out the
responses for each group, results showed that even though participants from the music
video group responded more often, their additional verses were less imaginative than
the verses of those who had only heard the audio versions of the songs. Moreover,
watching the music video diminished the ability to imagine other possible videos.
47
In a second experiment, twelve students were randomly assigned to watch four
music videos while eleven students only listened to the corresponding audio songs. In a
following questionnaire, all students were asked to describe what the song was about.
Comparing the answers, descriptions of respondents from the video condition were
rather similar and specific, whereas respondents from the audio condition presented
more vague and dissimilar answers. In line with the previous experiment, findings
indicate that the audio song without any visual stimulus may be more exiting to the
imagination.
In the experiment already presented in the paragraph about aggression, Johnson,
Jackson and Gatto (1995) also assessed the impact of rap music videos on academic
aspirations. After having watched violent rap music videos, non-violent rap music
videos or no music videos at all, the teenagers had to read a short story involving a
young man who decided to engage in an academic career to achieve success whereas his
unemployed friend “mysteriously” obtained nice and expensive items without doing
anything for it. Consequently, the participants were asked “which boy they would rather
like to be” (p 33) and if they believed in the academic perceptions of both friends. When
compared to the participants of the control group, participants in the rap video exposure
conditions were more likely to say that they wanted to be like the materialistic young
man and were less convinced that the other young man would realize his educational
goals.
Zillmann et al. (1995) addressed the question whether the exposure to radical rap
music videos would further ethnic division between African-American and White high
school students. In the experiment, students of both ethnic groups were first exposed to
music videos featuring popular rock, non-political rap or radical political rap. Then, in a
supposedly different study, the students participated in a fake student-government
election where African-American and White candidates presented ethnically neutral,
liberal or radical positions. Results suggest that the exposure to radical political rap
music videos evoked pro-social voting behavior in the White students, but not in
African-Americans. After watching music videos featuring radical rap, White students
gave more encouragement to an African-American ethnically liberal candidate and less
support to a White ethnically radical runner than after the exposure to the other music
videos. Radical political rap thus seemed to motivate the White students to oppose
views of White domination and to endorse efforts toward racial consistency, making
them more tolerant if anything.
48
3.6.2 Summary empirical evidence: Other effects
All in all, four experiments revealed additional effects of music videos. Two of them
found evidence that the exposure to music videos might reduce teenagers` imagination,
one showed a relation between the exposure to rap music videos and deferred academic
aspirations and one disclosed that the exposure to radical rap music videos evoked prosocial and more tolerant voting behavior in White high school students. Surprisingly,
this last experiment was the only study discovering a positive effect, all others once
more referred to the detrimental influences of music videos on teenagers and
adolescents.
4
Conclusion
The main purpose of this vote-counting analysis was to evaluate the current state of
the empirical research on effects of music videos on adolescents. The influence of
music videos on youth is a controversial issue, which often provoked debates and
contradictory opinions. A systematic and complete review of the empirical research on
this subject is important, because only such an overview allows determining the extent
to which existing hypotheses and claims are actually supported by empirical research
and not just deducted from quantitative content analyses. In contrast to earlier reviews,
this vote-counting analysis includes all relevant studies that were conducted to examine
effects of music videos on adolescents and young adults, regardless if they produced or
failed to produce statistically significant findings in the hypothesized directions. In total,
30 studies were considered; some of them assessing several dependent variables in one
setting.
Traditionally, most studies on the effects of music videos on adolescents have
focused on relations that are already discussed in research on other mass media.
Following these debates, the categorization of existing hypotheses into five categories
concerning the research areas aggression, sexuality, gender stereotypes, body image and
health proved to be very reasonable and helpful, only four studies could not be included
and were therefore treated separately. Yet, especially the wide ranges of classifications
and various differences in operationalizations call for attention comparing the results;
also the lack of reported effect sizes proved to be a disadvantage. Nevertheless, the
vote-counting analysis revealed a number of (working) hypotheses for future research.
49
Concerning the effects of music videos on aggression, the majority of studies
support the hypothesis that music videos encourage aggressive or violent attitudes and
behavior in adolescents. Results suggest that recipients indeed form more positive
impressions about violent or aggressive behavior and actions which are portrayed in the
music videos, and that recipients are more likely to actually carry out the aggressive or
violent behaviors depicted. Nonetheless, especially evidence for a causal relation
between the exposure to music videos and concrete aggressive or violent behavior is
still scarce, further research is needed to arrive at decisive conclusions.
Regarding the effects of music videos on sexuality, all studies confirm the
assumption that music videos promote liberal sexual attitudes and behavior. Findings
point at a direct relation between the exposure to music video portraying sexual explicit
imagery and more liberal attitudes and behavior, making recipients to build more
positive notions about liberal sexual behaviors and actions portrayed in music videos,
and to engage in the kind of sexual behavior depicted. Nevertheless, although the results
are in agreement with the hypothesis, half of the studies are correlational and do not
allow causal conclusions. Therefore further research is needed, especially concerning
the effects of music videos on actual sexual behavior.
For the relation between music videos and the activation of gender related schemas,
almost all studies support the hypothesis that the exposure to music videos can produce
priming effects that activate and reinforce stereotypical gender schemas, especially if
the evaluated person or situation is similar to one presented in the music video. Besides,
some studies revealed that the exposure to music videos portraying stereotypical images
of gender and sexuality can also influence attitudes on gender related behavior,
encouraging more traditional gender role positions. Nevertheless, particularly this area
calls for more research using different operationalizations in order to clearly verify the
hypothesis.
With regard to the fourth hypothesis on music videos and body image, there is a
definite lack of empirical evidence. Even though both the experiment and the survey
indicate a relation between the exposure to music videos and negative consequences for
women`s body image, the correlational study resulted in only partial confirmation of the
hypothesis. Moreover, no study has examined the influence of music videos on male
recipients. Thus, the empirical research on the effects of music videos on body image is
not developed to such an extent that it allows of clear causal conclusions. However, the
50
analysis proposes that the assumption of music videos enhancing body dissatisfaction
and a drive for thinness can be used as a working hypothesis for further research.
Concerning music videos and health, most results support the hypothesis at first
hand. For alcohol consumption, all three correlational studies disclosed a positive
correlation between music video watching and the consummation of alcoholic
beverages. For drug abuse, the hypothesis was only confirmed partially. Regarding the
relation between music videos and sexual health risk behavior some evidence could be
found. Last but not least, concerning suicide, the experiment disclosed an increased
occurrence of suicide-related thoughts and negative mood after the exposure to music
video with suicidal content; nevertheless, general attitudes and beliefs about suicide as
well as the perceived personal risk were not influenced. Overall, these diverse findings
point at the possibility that the exposure to music videos might indeed promote health
risk behavior which may then lead to adverse effects on the teenagers` and adolescents`
health. Nonetheless, the majority of the studies are correlational and researched very
limited health risk behaviors. This does not allow a definitive affirmation of the
hypothesis as a whole, further research is still needed.
Moreover, the vote-counting analysis identified several moderating variables, such
as age, gender, arousal, family environment, and involvement with music videos.
Notable is that whereas some studies explained their choice, in most empirical studies,
moderating variables were included on an exploratory basis, without guidance of
detailed theories on the nature and direction of the moderating influence of these
variables. In order to explain the general effects of music videos on adolescents
researchers mainly drew back on social learning theory and cognitive priming. Contrary
to prediction, cultivation theory was only considered in the area of music videos and
sexuality, social comparison solely for studies on body image. Nonetheless, these two
perspectives provide interesting approaches and explanations for other areas as well and
should therefore be considered more often in further research.
All in all, a considerable amount of empirical evidence links the exposure to music
videos with detrimental effects on adolescents. Only one study found a positive
influence of music videos on youth. Even brief periods of watching are supposed to
have an impact on aggression, sexuality, stereotypical gender schemas, body image or
health. Thereby, the effects of music videos can often be predicted by the thematic
content presented in the music videos. Most of the studies have looked at short-term
effects only, predominantly with college students or undergraduates.
51
Further research can take several paths. First, more studies are needed. Compared to
the catalog on other media effects, the literature on music videos is limited and
relatively unsystematic. Particularly, there is a lack of studies that focus on causal
relationships, especially when it comes to the exposure to music videos and actual
behavior of adolescents. Second, researchers need to pay more attention how they
operationalize the dependent variables so that stronger implications can be drawn across
studies. Therefore, more comparable and pre-tested scales should be used to measure
attitudinal and behavioral changes. Third, more studies should consequently incorporate
possible moderating variables in their analysis. Thereby, it is necessary to include
theoretical explanations on the mechanisms working to explain why and how certain
moderating variables influence the effects of music videos on adolescents and others
not. Fourth, more longitudinal research has to be conducted to determine long-term
effects of exposure to music videos on youth. Finally, more studies should look at
possible positive influences of music videos instead of limiting the research on
detrimental effects. If this aspect is left behind on purpose, the research area of music
videos is not examined completely and systematically. This can easily lead to biased
conclusions about the danger of music videos for adolescents.
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
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