Moderating Effect of Gender and Socioeconomic Status on the Relationship Between Media Exposure and Violent Behaviour

Abstract

The problem of violence has become a serious impediment to societal progress. Violence among adolescents is on the rise in several nations, including Jordan. A review of current literature found that media exposure, particularly to violent movies, plays a key role in driving the prevalence of violence. This critical topic has received very little attention. Therefore, this research investigates further the consequences of violence in movies on Jordanian adolescents’ violent behaviour (VB) by focusing on the moderating effects of gender and socioeconomic status (SES). Questionnaires were distributed to 350 secondary school students in Jerash, Jordan, and PLS-SEM was used to test the relationships between the variables. The findings revealed that media exposure directly affects VB among Jordanian adolescents, and it also revealed no moderation effect of gender and SES in the relationship between media exposure and VB among Jordanian adolescents. In addition, the present study included limitations and recommendations for future studies.