Brad BushmanAcademic

Biography

Brad J. Bushman is Professor of Communication and Psychology at The Ohio State University, where he holds the Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication. He was previously a professor at Iowa State University (1990–2003) and the University of Michigan (2003–2010), and is sometimes still identified in the press by his former Iowa State affiliation. He studies the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence, with particular focus on media violence, violent video games, and anger management. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, cited tens of thousands of times, and his research has been featured by the BBC, New York Times, and NPR. He served on President Obama's committee on gun violence and co-chaired a National Science Foundation advisory committee on youth violence following the Newtown shooting, testifying before the US Congress on its findings.

References

1. 1.Brad J. Bushman | School of Communication, The Ohio State University — Current role, title, contact details, research focus, and policy engagement
2. 2.Prof. Brad J. Bushman – Social Psychology Network — Career history including Iowa State University tenure (1990–2003), NSF advisory committee work, and Congressional testimony
3. 3.Brad Bushman | Criminal Justice Research Center, Ohio State University — APA awards including Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Media Psychology and Technology (2014) and Kurt Lewin Award (2017)
4. 4.Brad J. Bushman Ph.D. | Psychology Today — Prior Iowa State and Michigan affiliations, APA award (2014), Kurt Lewin Award (2017), Obama gun violence committee membership
5. 5.Brad J. Bushman – Google Scholar — Current Ohio State affiliation confirmed; citation count (78,000+)

Expertise

Cited on

• Mental health

Stated areas of expertise

• Media violence and aggression
• Violent video games and behaviour
• Youth violence policy
• Anger management
• Gun violence research
• Social psychology of violence

Notable achievements

• Received the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Media Psychology and Technology Award from the American Psychological Association in 2014 Source ↗
• Received the Kurt Lewin Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (jointly with Craig Anderson) in 2017 for outstanding contributions to the integration of psychological research and social action Source ↗
• Co-chaired a National Science Foundation advisory committee on youth violence following the Newtown shooting, producing a report distributed to every member of Congress and every state Governor, and testified before Congress on its contents Source ↗
• Served as a member of President Obama's committee on gun violence as an expert on media violence effects Source ↗
• Google Scholar profile records over 78,000 citations to his work Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “When people feed their anger in these rage rooms, they're just practising how to behave more aggressively.”

  Professor at Ohio State University · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · Rage rooms: can smashing stuff up really help to relieve anger and stress? ↗

• “Physically venting your anger actually increases it... people who hit inanimate objects when they're angry are basically just 'practising how to behave aggressively'.”

  Iowa State University · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · Rage workouts: the best way to exercise – or just infuriating? ↗

Source references

1. Rage rooms: can smashing stuff up really help to relieve anger and stress?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Rage workouts: the best way to exercise – or just infuriating?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://comm.osu.edu/people/bushman.20
• Websitehttps://bushman.socialpsychology.org/
• Xhttps://x.com/bradjbushmanpublished here ↗
• Press office emailbushman.20@osu.edupublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.