Dr. Craig Anderson is a preeminent scholar and leading authority in the field of social psychology with a specialized focus on human aggression and media effects. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University where he also directs the Center for the Study of Violence. After earning his BA in Psychology and Sociology from Butler University in 1976 he completed his MA and PhD in Psychology at Stanford University in 1978 and 1980 respectively. His distinguished academic career spans multiple prestigious institutions including Rice University where he served as faculty from 1980 to 1988 Ohio State University as a visiting professor from 1984 to 1985 and the University of Missouri from 1988 to 1999 before joining Iowa State University in 1999 as Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department.
Dr. Anderson's groundbreaking research on the effects of violent media content has fundamentally reshaped understanding of aggression and violence in contemporary society with his work receiving over 74000 citations according to Google Scholar. His seminal book Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents presented the first longitudinal study in this field and pioneered experimental comparisons of violent video game effects across different age groups. His research methodology combining rigorous experimental designs with large-scale longitudinal studies has established a robust evidence base linking media violence exposure to increased aggression and violence. Dr. Anderson's contributions extend beyond video games to examine belief perseverance attribution theory and more recently the relationship between global climate change and violence demonstrating his capacity to address pressing societal issues through psychological science.
Beyond his research achievements Dr. Anderson has served as Past-President of the International Society for Research on Aggression and maintains leadership roles on the Executive Council of this influential organization. His exceptional contributions have been recognized with the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology along with Fellow status in both the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association. Dr. Anderson continues to shape the field through editorial roles with major journals and frequent consultations with child advocacy groups and government bodies on public policy matters. His current research program explores the intersection of climate change and violence while developing interventions to mitigate aggression ensuring his work remains at the forefront of addressing critical societal challenges through psychological science.
