Christopher J. Ferguson
My research has been on violent behavior. I am interested in examining violent behavior from a multivariate format, examining the combined impact of genetics, family environment, personality, mental health, and media violence. Much of my research lately has focused on positive and negative effects of playing violent video games.
Recent research I've been involved in has questioned the common belief in psychology that media violence contributes to aggression. I've been very interested in the sociology of media violence research itself...how the research field has become influenced by ideology and dogma, and how this relates to other research fields in psychology.
Primary Interests:
- Aggression, Conflict, Peace
- Applied Social Psychology
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Evolution and Genetics
- Gender Psychology
- Helping, Prosocial Behavior
- Law and Public Policy
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Research Methods, Assessment
- Self and Identity
Note from the Network: The holder of this profile has certified having all necessary rights, licenses, and authorization to post the files listed below. Visitors are welcome to copy or use any files for noncommercial or journalistic purposes provided they credit the profile holder and cite this page as the source.
Image Gallery
Video Gallery
Speaking of Psychology: Suicide Contagion (APA Podcast)
Select video to watch
-
11:17 Speaking of Psychology: Suicide Contagion (APA Podcast)
Length: 11:17
-
1:11:30 When Leaders Go Mad
Length: 1:11:30
-
7:45 The Psychology of Trump
Length: 7:45
-
33:43 Social Censorship and How to Deal With Social Media Haters
Length: 33:43
-
34:01 Violent Video Games and Availability Cascades
Length: 34:01
-
3:41 How Violent Video Games Can Affect Gamers' Behavior
Length: 3:41
-
1:34:10 The Myth of Media and Violence
Length: 1:34:10
-
1:31:14 Violent Media and Its Effects, and How Madness Shaped History
Length: 1:31:14
-
1:19:02 How Madness Shaped History
Length: 1:19:02
-
2:14:23 Catastrophe! Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse
Length: 2:14:23
-
55:24 Why Do Insane People Become Leaders?
Length: 55:24
-
1:22:08 Video Games Are Not Bad for You
Length: 1:22:08
-
1:18:57 How To Identify Toxic Masculinity and Bias
Length: 1:18:57
-
8:08 The Dangers of Intelligence
Length: 8:08
-
2:22:12 The Most Insane Rulers In History
Length: 2:22:12
-
1:10:14 On Resigning from the APA and the Effects of Media
Length: 1:10:14
Books:
- Ferguson, C. J. (2012). Suicide kings. London, TX: L & L Dreamspell.
- Ferguson, C. J. (Ed.). (2009). Violent crime: Clinical and social implications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Journal Articles:
- Ferguson, C. J. (2013). In the eye of the beholder: Thin-ideal media affects some, but not most, viewers in a meta-analytic review of body dissatisfaction in women and men. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(1), 20-37.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2013). Violent video games and the Supreme Court: Lessons for the scientific community in the wake of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. American Psychologist, 68(2), 57-74.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2012). Positive female role-models eliminate negative effects of sexually violent media. Journal of Communication, 62, 888-899.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2009). An effect size primer: A guide for clinicians and researchers. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(5), 532-538.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2009). Is psychological research really as good as medical research? Effect size comparisons between psychology and medicine. Review of General Psychology, 13(2), 130-136.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2009). Media violence effects: Confirmed truth or just another X-File? Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 9(2), 103-126.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2008). The school shooting/violent video game link: Causal relationship or moral panic? Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 5, 25-37.
- Ferguson, C. J. (2007). Evidence for publication bias in video game violence effects literature: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12, 470-482.
- Ferguson, C. J., Cruz, A., & Rueda, S. (2008). Gender, video game playing habits and visual memory tasks. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 58, 279-286.
- Ferguson, C. J., & Dyck, D. (2012). Paradigm change in aggression research: The time has come to retire the General Aggression Model. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(3), 220-228.
- Ferguson, C. J., Garza, A., Jerabeck, J., Ramos, R., & Galindo, M. (2013). Not worth the fuss after all? Cross-sectional and prospective data on violent video game influences on aggression, visuospatial cognition and mathematics ability in a sample of youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(1), 109-122. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9803-6
- Ferguson, C. J., & Heene, M. (2012). A vast graveyard of undead theories: Publication bias and psychological science’s aversion to the null. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6) 550-556.
- Ferguson. C. J., & Kilburn, J. (2009). The public health risks of media violence: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Pediatrics, 154(5), 759-763.
- Ferguson, C. J., Rueda, S., Cruz, A., Ferguson, D., Fritz, S., & Smith, S. (2008). Violent video games and aggression: Causal relationship or byproduct of family violence and intrinsic violence motivation? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 311-332.
- Ferguson, C. J., & Rueda, S. M. (2009). Examining the validity of the modified Taylor competitive reaction time test of aggression. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 5(2), 121-137.
- Ferguson, C. J., San Miguel, C., Garza, A., & Jerabeck, J. (2012). A longitudinal test of video game violence influences on dating and aggression: A 3-year longitudinal study of adolescents. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46, 141-146.
- Ferguson, C. J., San Miguel, C., & Hartley, R. D. (2009). A multivariate analysis of youth violence and aggression: The influence of family, peers, depression and media violence. Journal of Pediatrics, 155(6), 904-908.
- Ramos, R. A., Ferguson, C. J., Frailing, K., & Romero-Ramirez, M. (2013). Comfortably numb or just yet another movie? Media violence exposure does not reduce viewer empathy for victims of real violence among primarily Hispanic viewers. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(1), 2-10.
Courses Taught:
- Abnormal Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Psychology of War
- Research Methods
- Serial Murder
Christopher J. Ferguson
Department of Psychology
Stetson University
421 North Woodland Boulevard
DeLand, Florida 32723
United States of America
- Phone: (386) 822-7288