Media Violence Survey: Americans Split Over Next Step in Violence Prevention

While Americans are debating the pros and cons of stricter gun control laws, another issue has been brought to the spotlight as well – violence in the media. How prominent are violent video games, TV shows and movies in today’s culture? And do Americans think media violence has much of an impact on violent behavior in the real world?

Media Violence

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, just 10% said they often play video games that could be seen as violent. Another 18% said they sometimes play violent video games. 14% said they have played violent video games at some point. And 58% said they don’t ever play violent video games.19% said they often watch violent TV shows and movies. 48% said they sometimes watch TV shows and movies that could be considered violent. Another 16% said they have watched violent TV shows and movies at some point. And just 18% said they never watch violent TV shows or movies.

Real Violence

In general, 19% of respondents said they think violence in the media has a large connection to real-life violence. 27% said they think media violence can somewhat impact real-life violence. 35% said the two might be linked. And 19% said they don’t think media violence has any impact on real-life violence. Those who play violent video games or watch violent TV shows or movies were 10% less likely to think there is a connection between media violence and real-life violence.

Next Steps

The President and some lawmakers have begun discussing the possibilities of doing research into the effects of media violence and what can be done about it. Overall, 18% of respondents said they definitely think the government should research these issues. 34% said they think it is probably a good idea for the government to research media violence issues. 29% said they think the government should probably not look into media violence. And 18% said they definitely don’t think the government should do anything about violence in the media.You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: lever action rifle from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on January 20 via AYTM’s online survey panel.