We investigated whether there was a correlation between perceived media violence and aggressive behavior. 151 pre-video media violence surveys and 151 post-video response surveys were administered. The surveys were administered to Fort Lewis College students by investigators. Students filled out the pre-video media violence survey and then were shown one of two videos. The control group watched the "The Most Heartfelt & Inspiring Commercial Ever made" video, whereas the experimental group watched the "MMA Fight Videos-knockouts, takedowns, submissions" video. Both groups filled out the post-video response survey to the video they watched. We collected the surveys and analyzed the data to see whether there was any correlation between the perceived media violence and aggressive behavior. We found overall that the Heartwarming video had a more positive emotional effect than the MMA wrestling video. A two-tailed Independent t-test was conducted and found a significant change in the effect of the film clip on the participants, emotional change, and emotions felt the most. Also participants reported that the media did not influence them to want to cause harm. A limitation of our study is that we had to use a less powerful violent film clip than we had wanted due to ethics concerns. Our study shows that prosocial videos can exert powerful influences on people's emotions.
