Gender as a Moderator of the Association Between Exposure to Violent Media Contents and Aggressive Behaviour in a Sample of Nigerian In-School Adolescents

This is a correlational survey research which was carried out to find out if gender is a moderator of the association between exposure to violent media contents and aggressive behaviour in a sample of Nigerian in-school adolescents. The respondents were 603 senior secondary class 2 adolescents in Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra State. Two self-report questionnaires measuring violent media contents consumption and aggressive behaviour respectively were used for collection of data. Chart, partial correlation, and regression statistics were utlized to analyze and interpret the data. The research hypothesis was considered significant at .05 probability level. Results indicate that, to a very high extent, gender moderated the relationship between exposure to violent media contents and aggressive behaviour among in-school adolescents. Also, it was found that gender significantly moderated the relationship between exposure to violent media contents and aggressive behaviour among in-school adolescents. It is recommended that Nigerian secondary schools should initiate and promote gender-friendly and gender-transformative school-based interventions that would help mitigate aggression among in-school adolescents.