The extent of aggressive content was estimated in six fairy tales from each of three cultures: American, Japanese, and middle-eastern Indian. Aggression, primarily of a physical type, was widespread throughout the selected tales from all three cultures. However, the Grimm's tales, utilized in the American culture, evidenced the greatest amount of manifest aggression by a ratio of 4:2:1 over the Indian and Japanese cultures. The Grimm's tales also depicted significantly more human, as opposed to fictional, aggression. Further study of the relationship between exposure to this form of mediated experience and aggressive behavior in children of the different cultures is suggested.
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