ABSTRACT
The first empirical question is, does media content produce effects? By that we mean, does media exposure generate various outcomes on persons who consume the material (this is a social not a clinical question so the effect is measured at the level of group mean differences)? If a group of persons consume violent material, sexually explicit material, or certain types of music does this consumption produce a demonstrable impact on the attitudes and behaviors of that group compared with those of a group of persons who did not consume the material or consumed alternative material lacking the important characteristic under study. The overwhelming answer to that simple question is yes. Media consumption is related to a lot of various outcomes, and an examination of almost all meta-analy-
ses, including those in this book, shows that there are demonstrable ffects for media content on the group of consumers.
