Effects of Violent Movies on Drawing Symbols in Seven to Eleven Years Old Boys

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of violence watching on aggression expression in drawing symbols (paintings) of school children. The study population consisted of 50 male students of elementary schools in the city of Semnan (Miaad School) selected by multistage cluster sampling and then devised to two groups that each consisted of 25 participants, ( experimental and control ) groups. First, the experimental group watched violent movie scenes (full of fight) and then a drawing test was taken from them (free topic painting). After that, the control group that didn't watch movies takes drawing test. Both paintings were examined using paint analysis. Three variables of angled and bold lines and tricolor (green, red and black) are the sign of arousal and anger expression in children's drawings. Results: After analyzing and comparing the painting of both group, the results of statistical analysis showed symbols of anger in the experimental group was significantly higher than the painting of the control group. Conclusion: Watching violent films affects the drawing symbols of children.