Influence of Televised Violence on the Undergraduate Students of Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria
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Date
2017-08-08
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Abia State Polytechnic Aba
Abstract
The study investigated the influence of televised violence on undergraduate students in Abia State
University, Uturu, Abia State Nigeria. To facilitate this study, 392 undergraduates were randomly selected and
three specific objectives and three null hypotheses were postulated. The objectives were to investigate whether
heavy television viewers are more influenced by televised violence than moderate or light viewers; to find out if
age and gender influence the extent of the effect that televised violence has on the students; and to determine the
influence of televised violence on Abia State University students. Data were collected using televised violence
scale (TVS) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the Chi-square analysis was used to test the
hypotheses postulated for the study. This study revealed that heavy televised viewers are more influenced by
televised violence than moderate and light viewers. The study further revealed that age and gender of the
viewers do not influence the extent of the effect that televised violence has on the students. Finally, the study
showed that there is significant influence of televised violence on the behaviour of Abia State University
students. It was recommended among others that regular enlightenment programmes and seminars should be
organized by the school authority to educate and enlighten the students on the dangers of exposure to televised
violence. Also, television producers should be more creative in showing the perpetrators of violent acts being
punished rather than justifying violent acts. Lastly, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) should
ensure that they thoroughly monitor television content and reduce violent portrayals.