Media representations and responsibilities: psychological perspectives (original) (raw)

Psychological Science in the Public Interest the Influence of Media Violence on Youth

2010

Summary—Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also substantial (r �.13 to.32) when compared with effects of other violence risk factors or medical effects deemed important by the medical community (e.g., effect of aspirin on heart attacks). The research base is large; diverse in methods, samples, and media genres; and consistent in overall findings. The evidence is clearest within the most extensively researched domain, television and film violence. The growing body of video-game research yields essentially the same conclusions. Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically

Media Violence and the General Aggression Model

Journal of Social Issues

The General Aggression Model (GAM) is a meta-theory that considers the role of personal and situational variables on aggressive behavior, ranging from the biological to the cultural. Possible mediating variables include internal states (e.g., aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, increased physiological arousal) and the results of appraisal and decision processes (automatic and controlled). In this article, we focus on one situational variable-exposure to violent media-and how it can influence a wide array of cognitive, developmental, emotional, and social processes that can increase likelihood of aggression. Previous research has shown that exposure to violent media can increase aggression through all three internal state paths, and by increasing hostile appraisals. In this article, we use GAM as a theoretical framework to explain a wide variety of violent media effects. We also add some clarifications and extensions to GAM that research in the past 15 years has shown to be needed in the model. We also suggest new research directions in the media violence domain that we believe will be especially useful in the future. "There is nothing so useful as a good theory."-Kurt Lewin (1951) We believe that the General Aggression Model (GAM) is "useful" and is a "good theory" for explaining violent media effects. Our goal in this article is to use GAM to summarize what is currently known about how exposure to media violence influences those who consume it. More specifically, we focus on screen

Media Violence Effects on Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

In this article, Craig begins with the question of what environmental factors influence aggressive and violent behavior. He stated that " Today youth are even more inundated with media violence than past generations, mostly from entertainment sources but also from news and educational media. " (59). in the vast researches on violent television and films and video games, reveals undisputable evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior. Exposing children to violence media has negative impact in short and long term. The author compared two studies in which increased aggression was seen by children who were more exposed to violent media in cartoons compared to children whose aggression decreased when they were not frequently exposed to this type of media .The author continues to argue the impact of television has on a child's behavior. For Example, children, adolescent and young adult who are exposed to both nonviolent and violent media screen, face problems such as attention hyperactivity disorders and deficit disorder (61).Furthermore, Anderson concludes by stating that there have many people questioning her beliefs and have spoken against her article however she states that with the advancement in technology, many children in our generation are influenced by what they see in the media compared to children in former generations and as parents and caregivers we need to understand these effects and how to reduce them in our child's lives. The media feel threatened by this type of studies so that they are supporting articles with few scientific credentials that are contradicting Anderson points. Nevertheless, Anderson's arguments are supported by the extensive scientific studies and medical associations. He concluded the article advising parents and caregivers must reduce the exposure of our children to violent media, and understand that avoiding media from our children lives is more beneficial that harmful.

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON YOUTH

2003

Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also substantial ( r ϭ .13 to .32) when compared with effects of other violence risk factors or medical effects deemed important by the medical community (e.g., effect of aspirin on heart attacks). The research base is large; diverse in methods, samples, and media genres; and consistent in overall findings. The evidence is clearest within the most extensively researched domain, television and film violence. The growing body of video-game research yields essentially the same conclusions. Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions. Recent large-scale longitudinal studies provide converging evidence linking frequent exposure to violent media in childhood with aggression later in life, including physical assaults and spouse abuse. Because extremely violent criminal behaviors (e.g., forcible rape, aggravated assault, homicide) are rare, new longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to estimate accurately how much habitual childhood exposure to media violence increases the risk for extreme violence. Well-supported theory delineates why and when exposure to media violence increases aggression and violence. Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors. Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting (and automatically accessible) aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals' normal negative emotional responses to violence (i.e., desensitization).

The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a public-health approach

The Lancet, 2005

There is continuing debate on the extent of the effects of media violence on children and young people, and how to investigate these effects. The aim of this review is to consider the research evidence from a public-health perspective. A search of published work revealed five meta-analytic reviews and one quasi-systematic review, all of which were from North America. There is consistent evidence that violent imagery in television, film and video, and computer games has substantial short-term effects on arousal, thoughts, and emotions, increasing the likelihood of aggressive or fearful behaviour in younger children, especially in boys. The evidence becomes inconsistent when considering older children and teenagers, and long-term outcomes for all ages. The multifactorial nature of aggression is emphasised, together with the methodological difficulties of showing causation. Nevertheless, a small but significant association is shown in the research, with an effect size that has a substantial effect on public health. By contrast, only weak evidence from correlation studies links media violence directly to crime.

The role of the mass media in violent behavior

2006

Media violence poses a threat to public health inasmuch as it leads to an increase in real-world violence and aggression. Research shows that fictional television and film violence contribute to both a short-term and a long-term increase in aggression and violence in young viewers. Television news violence also contributes to increased violence, principally in the form of imitative suicides and acts of aggression.

Naturalistic Studies of the Long-Term Effects of Television Violence

Journal of Social Issues, 1986

Carefully controlled experimental laboratory research has provided valuable evidence about the effects of media violence on the aggressive behavior of viewers in laboratory settings. However, social stimuli such as media violence can produce different effects in laboratory as compared to nonlaboratory settings. Thus, research in laboratory settings may not provide accurate information about the effects of media violence in nonlaboratory settings. Some types of quasi-experimental field research can provide evidence about the long-term socialization and developmental effects of media violence on viewer's behavior in naturalistic settings. The present article summarizes the findings from a number of quasi-experimental studies about the efSects of naturally occurring media violence. We conclude that the balance of the findings are consistent with the hypothesis that television produces a long-term increase in the aggressive behavior of boys but not of girls.

Media Influences on Health: When the Black Screen Affects the Mind and Body

We are exposed to the various facets of media on quite the regular basis in today's age of the internet. It is but obvious that the things we watch and observe through media portals affects our patterns of behavior. The basic aim of this research paper is to look at the health effects of the varied kinds of media exposure, taking violence in media as the main reference point. Using a variety of studies focused on the effects of violence portrayed in an array of media forms, this paper aims to concretize the effects of media exposure that manifest in everyday patterns of behavior, and will focus on the effects of audiovisual media that lead to the manifestation of violent behaviors in the social sphere. Joanna Cantor posits that research conducted within the sphere of tracing the psychological effects of media violence are quite misconstrued. Children are exposed to varied levels of violence through media portals as they develop into adults, and thus no conglomerate observations can be made about the levels of violence that arise from such varied levels of exposure. Thus, conducting studies about the effects of media violence needs to consider a variety of variables apart from the age of the subjects being taken into consideration, since the levels of exposure an the possible problems within an external environment, as well as patterns of aggression in the social sphere are variables that indirectly affect the behaviors resulting from media exposure. It is clear that the study of the effects of media exposure is a skewed one, due to the various limitations that arise in studying a sample where the distinctive trait is the exposure to media, which is very hard to quantify along a concrete scale of measurement. The main question to ask here is whether exposure to violence leads to the emergence of violent behaviors. Apologists claim that children know better than to imitate violent and unsafe acts they are exposed to on their TV screen, since they often fall back to the values they are taught, but the possible effect of social learning through exposure also needs to be considered. Such an imitation of violent acts due to a high level of involvement with a particular form of media is, according to researchers, a possibility that is not so far from reality. There are concrete research projects to prove the social learning scenario, and most of these 'natural experiments' that involved looking at imitative behaviors in schools following media exposure. A relevant example would be the surveys conducted in schools across Israel by Lemish in the 1990's, following the institution of WWF onto TV screens. Elementary school principals were given surveys being asked about the effects seen in the schooling environment prior to and after the airing of the franchise on Israeli television. Follow up surveys were also given to students and teachers, and the results showed that several respondents attributed the emergence of violence in these schools across the country to exposure to the franchise itself. Thus, the possibility of social learning arising from viewing violent material cannot be discounted, and depends on the value systems integrated into children at the start. The exposure to violence not only leads to the possible reproduction of violent behavior, but also the emergence of hostile interpersonal interactions. This was measured through a 1999 experiment conducted by Zillmann and Weaver. The study was conducted on a uniformly divided sample of male and female college students. The basic aim was to study the effect of exposure to violence in films on social interactions. The students