Helping and aggression are core topics in social psychology. So far, abundant
evidence that violent media decreases helping and increases aggression has been
collected. However, recent theoretical and empirical work has demonstrated that the
media may also increase prosocial outcomes and decrease antisocial outcomes. In fact,
exposure to media with prosocial content increases the accessibility of prosocial
thoughts, empathy, and helping behavior and decreases aggression and
aggression-related cognition and affect. The present article reviews this research
and provides an overview of when and why media exposure instigates helping and
reduces aggression.
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