Psychology Commons^™

Adult's Perceptions Of Children's Aggressive Play With Advertised And Non-Advertised Toys., Lori J. Klinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined adults’ perceptions of aggression in toys and toy commercials targeted toward young boys. The subjects, 262 undergraduate psychology students, completed the Buss/Perry Aggression Questionnaire and rated either a videotape of 10 boy-oriented toy commercials or slides of 10 non-advertised boy-toys. Parental status, exposure to an advertised versus non-advertised toy, and level of self-reported aggression were assessed to determine their relationship to perceptions of aggressiveness in a toy’s image and predicted play with the toy.

Univariate analyses of variance and paired sample t-tests were conducted. The results indicate that toys advertised in commercials are judged to portray more …