he purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the expressive and contextual characteristics of violent videos on affective reactions. Expressive characteristics are concerned with the way by which violence is represented visually, and contextual characteristics are concerned with the story in which violence happens. Fifty undergraduates (male=24, female=26) evaluated their impressions of 20 violent videos and rated their affective reactions to these videos. Two judges evaluated each contextual characteristic. Results showed that although the expressive characteristics influenced viewers' affective reactions, the contextual characteristics did not. The effects of violent videos on aggressive behavior were discussed from two perspectives, one associated with the affective effects of the expressive characteristics on hostile aggression and the other with the learning effects of the contextual characteristics on imitative aggression.
