Peer-reviewed article
An investigation of the relation between online and offline violence: methodological and theoretical considerations.
Melanie G Molenaar, Frank M Weerman, Ivy N Defoe ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether exposure to violent content on social media is associated with physical violence in real life among Dutch youth aged 16-24. The researchers found that exposure to violent social media content was linked to offline violence, with the relationship being stronger for adolescents than emerging adults. Peer deviancy was an important predictor but did not moderate the relationship. The study suggests that both the source of violent content (friends versus others) and the developmental stage of the viewer matter.
Key points
- Significant association found between exposure to violent social media content and offline physical violence
- The relationship was stronger for adolescents compared to emerging adults
- Peer deviancy was a significant predictor of violence but not a significant moderator of the social media-violence relationship
- Whether violent content came from friends versus non-friends may influence the effect on real-life violence
- Most prior research on this topic consisted of qualitative studies; this is one of the first quantitative investigations
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional, so causation cannot be established and reverse causality is possible. The findings are limited to a Dutch youth population and may not generalise to other contexts or age groups.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Research focusing on whether exposure to "online" violence via social media (exposure to violent content, such as videos of beatings or fights) predicts the use of physical "offline" violence (from hitting and threatening someone to violence against objects) in real-life is scarce and consists of mostly qualitative studies. The current quantitative study was designed to investigate this association while controlling for gender, and used the General Aggression Model (GAM) and the Developmental Neuro-ecological Risk-taking Model (DNERM) for its theoretical framework. Additionally, to what extent developmental stage (adolescents vs. young adults) and (offline) peer deviancy moderate this association was explored. We further used two separate measures of exposure to violent social media: (1) violent social media exposure in general and (2) violent social media exposure by friends. METHODS: A total of 292 ethnically- and socio-economically-diverse Dutch youth between 16 and 24 years (M = 19.52; SD = 3.218) participated in a survey study. RESULTS: Consistent with our theoretical frameworks, stepwise regression analyses supported the main hypothesis, as a significant association was found between the two measures of exposure to violent social media content and youth violence in real-life. However, we only found partial support for the moderation hypotheses: while peer deviancy was not a significant moderator, it was a significant predictor. Additionally, developmental stage was a significant predictor, and it was a significant moderator-but only when the "violent social media exposure in general" measure was used. Specifically, in support of DNERM, the results revealed that the link between violent social media exposure in general was stronger for adolescents (versus emerging adults). DISCUSSION: The current results demonstrate for the first time that when it comes to the effect of violent social media exposure on real-life violence, it may matter who (friends versus non-friends) is posting the violent content, but it also matters who the audience [e.g., adolescents versus (emerging) adults] is, and whether peer deviancy is already taken into account. Experimental and longitudinal research on this topic are necessary to further establish these findings. Methodological and theoretical considerations when investigating such online influences are discussed to guide future research on this topic.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Exposure to violent content on social media and risk of physical violence in real life among youth
- Intervention
- None - this is an observational study examining the association between social media exposure and offline violence
- Population
- 292 ethnically and socio-economically diverse Dutch youth aged 16-24 years (mean age 19.52)
Key finding
Significant association found between violent social media exposure and offline youth violence in regression analyses