It's a deeply held belief in some quarters that watching violence in TV and movies can make a viewer more hostile. Now research from a Brigham Young University professor suggests that just watching people being verbally mean to each other can have a similar effect.

The study, reported in the British paper The Telegraph, involved British university students watching one of three films: A knife fight from "Kill Bill," a catty conversation from Lindsay Lohan's "Mean Girls" and a quiet seance scene from the horror movie "What Lies Beneath."

One of two tests were then administered. One involved competing in an online game in which the loser would get a blast of noise - and the person taking the test could set the noise level. In the other test, the subjects reacted to an actor pretending to be a rude researcher.

The subjects who watched the "Kill Bill" clip or the "Mean Girls" clip reacted more aggressively than the third group, Dr. Sarah Coyne (pictured), assistant professor in BYU's School of Family Life, told The Telegraph. Her study is published in the November issue of Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and available online.

Labels: Brigham Young University