Please read the assigned articles. I want you to think deeply about the "effects" of exposure to entertainment violence and aggression. Think about your own experiences and the experiences of others that you have observed. What are the consequences of watching violent media or playing violent video games? What do you think? Can you (based on previous class discussions) identify cognitive effects? Socialization effects? Physiological effects (this is a new area for our discussion)? Macro or societal effects? Please address each of these areas, drawing from the theoretical foundations we have discussed in class. Finally, respond to the question: "Does TV kill?"Due: Oct. 14 @ 5 p.m.
What are the consequences of watching violent media or playing violent video games?
ReplyDeleteIt’s complicated. The theory of planned behavior indicates that normative beliefs are a significant portion of predicting intentions and behavior. It was made clear in the early cultivation theory research that media violence significantly altered normative beliefs of what people believed were statistics on real-life violence. It seems from the reading, that those already pre-disposed to aggressive behavior were more vulnerable for increased aggressive behavior, perhaps based on the concepts of increased normative beliefs, or excitation theory.
Can you (based on previous class discussions) identify cognitive effects?
The cognitive effects discussion on desensitization in the readings probably shook me the most. Particularly the part about people feeling more lenient to a rapist on trial after consuming rape media. We, are after, all a society that places every-day-people who consume media as Jury members for actual rape cases.
Socialization effects?
I can draw on social learning theory and cultivation theory to think about how violent media can socialize a person to think that violence is more normal, and learn it as a social behavior. Of course the real-life response a young person gets who is just trying on different social styles will dramatically alter their long-term outcome. However, those who get a neutral or reinforcing response to trying on violence will likely continue to use it.
I agree with your observations, especially about the cognitive effects that you described. Its scary to me that people can become desensitized to rape.
DeleteMacro or societal effects?
ReplyDeleteOne effect is in politics and policy. People are extremely moved by the media stories of mass shootings using assault rifles. They are considered National Tragedies; which has led several proposed (and in some states passed) laws banning assault rifles. But if people were looking at real stats of which guns are used most frequently for murder, they would be actually focused on hand-guns (which are used to murder about 9 times as many people). Which begs my cynicism that the politicians are playing the media viewers for votes, and I dare-say it’s working.
The cognitive effects I touched on earlier can lead to more dangerous criminals being out on the streets; which effects the overall safety of society. Also in that cognitive and social-learning effect of pornography, I think our society is seeing a break-down of healthy sexual relationships. The sheer accessibility seems to be a major factor in our generation. Perhaps some intervention methods are needed to remind men and women that in most pornographic portrayals the woman is not actually aroused; on the contrary, she’s statistically very likely to be on a huge amount of illicit drugs just keep herself from responding to the physical pain, to say nothing of the emotional and psychological pain. Perhaps if the young men in those studies of our readings knew that, they would be less permissive of rape scenes where the woman eventually appears aroused. The social learning theory would also lead me to believe porn would be less persuasive on how a person tries on sexuality, if we had more real-life openness and equally accessible (yet appropriate) information of healthy sexuality.
Physiological effects (this is a new area for our discussion)?
This is one area where I feel there is absolute clarity of a direct yes or no answer. It’s inevitable that if your sensory organs are processing anything, then something physical is also happening in your body. Your ear drums are made to vibrate, your heart rate can adjust, your eyes will involuntarily move, the chemicals jumping around in your brain, and glands will change. The desensitization is a survival mechanism your body gives you to keep you from unnecessarily being in fight or flight mode all the time, but it still can’t make you entirely numb or utterly physically unaffected. As much as I’ve heard Caillou’s annoying voice, I still get physically agitated by it, which means my digestion and immune responses are inhibited, which puts me at higher risk for getting sick or developing long-term ailments.
So to answer your final question of “Does TV kill?” I’m pretty sure Caillou has single-handedly taken a year off my life.
Daisy I agree with you how politicians use instances of violence to mobilize their policies. I think in most cases they do not address the real problem about the pervasiveness of violence in the mass media, in movies in music. The heart of the problem is the media violence portrayal. These can have damaging influences over those prone to aggressive behavior and to those around them
DeleteI grew up on a steady diet of zombie, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Rambo movies, as well as Resident Evil video games. (I wouldn’t watch the same movies now, because of the R-rating. My parents were newer members of the church at the time.) Do I plan to go out and shoot someone or chop someone up with a chainsaw? The answer is no. Did I have nightmares about the movies? Yes. On the other hand, I have a cousin who became a little terror whenever he watched karate or Bruce Lee movies. He would always try to use the moves on his siblings and me. Violent content affects people in different ways.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Bandura, in order for social learning of media violence to occur four things must happen: (1) The learner must see, read, or listen to the violent behavior of the actor. (2) The learner must have the ability to retain cognitive representations of the violent behavior. (3) The learner needs to possess the potential to replicate the action. (4) The learner must have desire to perform the violent behavior he or she witnessed.
I can see all the media violence in the world. I’m physically able to replicate a lot of the action, but I have no desire whatsoever to hurt anyone. Therefore, I believe consuming media violence won’t cause me to do any physical harm to another or myself. That’s not the case with everyone, according to research.
A cognitive effect of consuming violent media may be desensitization. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of bad things when I worked as a news reporter . . . a lot of dead bodies. It got to the point when I could look at a photo in court of somebody shot in the head and go outside and eat my lunch with ease, while I wrote the story. According to Bryant and Cummins (2010), “The desensitization hypothesis argues that repeated exposure to media violence causes a reduction in emotional responsiveness to violence in fiction, news, and reality fare, which in turn, leads to an increased acceptance of violence in real life.” I saw this happening to me.
A socialization effect of violent media could be a change in our normative beliefs of the acceptance of violence in real life. Experiments with actors have been done where people are seen being mugged in public, and passersby do nothing. According to Anderson and Bushman (2001), violent video games cause at least a temporary decrease in prosocial behavior … exposure to violent video games is negatively correlated with helping in the real world.
Anderson and Bushman also examined physiological effects of violent video games. The researchers found the games increased physiological arousal such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate.
A macro effect of consuming violent media is we may be teaching our children how to kill. At least, that is the argument of West Point psychology professor, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, and media literacy consultant Gloria Degaetano in their book, “Stopping Teaching Our Kids to Kill.” The two address scientific research that they say makes clear the “deadly link between this kind of graphic imagery and the escalating incidence of youth violence.” The authors talked about the shooting at Columbine High School where two students opened fire on fleeing students, killing 15 of them, before taking their own lives. “They played hundred of hours of the video game Doom, set up a racist Web site, built pipe bombs in the garage, armed themselves to the teeth with semiautomatic weapons, and talked to almost anyone who would listen about how they wanted to kill,” the authors write.
Lastly, does TV kill? I say, no. Otherwise, there should me a lot more mass murders in the country, based on the amount of violent content Americans consume. I think it goes back to Bandura’s four criteria for social learning to occur. The last is the most important. The person has to have desire to carry out the violent act. Fortunately, most people in this world don’t, even after they’ve watched violent media, can retain cognitive representations of it, and are able to replicate the violent act.
I like that you brought up your exposure to media violence. I too am obsessed with zombie and I watch tons of movies that would have "violent" content throughout. However, I have never even contemplated hurting someone. I feel like I could watch violent media and still never want to hurt anyone. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one!
DeleteIf i may corroborate the first statement in your last paragraph, In the wake of the breaking out of the largest maximum security correctional facility in New York by two notorious murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat the people in and around this area must have been in shock and living in palpable fear every day of their lives while the manhunt lasted. They definitely will be grateful to have television and other medium through which they sift daily, first hand updates, such as security reports on how dangerous the "murderers on the loose" are, how to identify them in the neighborhood and how not to engage them when spotted. The power of television in this case, helped to forestall civilian casualties rather than increase it. When the "show" was finally over, television was right there to deflate the heightened fear, restore peoples sense of security and a return to normalcy, I guess this is called "bringing closure" to the case in American parlance? Thumps up to TV!
DeleteBayo, you bring up an interesting point about emergency situations. A television can serve as a saving warning device in many instances...but it can also induce panic in people (ie War of the Worlds broadcast) and in that panic mode, people get hurt.
DeleteMy parents were always very careful about the things my siblings and I were allowed to watch. For instance, we loved the show Dragon Ball Z, but could only watch it when my parents were gone because we were not allowed to watch it when they were home. Moving into adolescence and emerging adulthood, I consumed much more violent media, usually in the form of movies when hanging out with friends or in some other social setting; however, I never felt particularly disturbed by the violence I watched, perhaps because I limit my movie viewing to PG-13 movies. Then during my undergrad, I took a media course from an aggression researcher and learned about all of the potentially harmful effects of viewing violent media. As such, I am now particularly sensitive to violent media and avoid watching it due to the way it makes me feel (i.e. scared, nervous, and/or empty).
ReplyDeleteAs other parents have done and future parents will continue to do, my parents “lightened up” over the years and do not monitor the media my younger siblings’ use as closely as they monitored the media my older siblings and I used. My younger brother, Mckay, got into violent video games at a young age—first person shooter, blood, gore, and all! My little brother doesn’t even bat an eye when he stabs a soldier to death, or takes a machine gun to a crowd of people. I have noticed that he becomes emotionally involved in his video games to the point of expressing anger and exhibiting aggression toward friends and family members during and after he finishes a gaming session.
The consequences I think are associated with violent media use include increased aggressive (a) thoughts, (b) feelings, (c) perceived intentions of others, and ultimately (d) behavior (okay, I’m cheating a bit because I have done a LOT of research on violent media use).
Based on class discussion and past research, I believe violent media use has a distinct effect on users’ cognition. Particularly, when one exposes themselves to violent media, he or she is participating in a “priming” process, in which the violence they commit and observe negatively effects how they relate to, value, and interact with others—this includes processes such as empathy use, perspective-taking, and social exchanges. If one’s thoughts and regulatory processes are being minimized by violent media use, then human interactions will be affected as such. In regards to societal effects, if a large portion of society is willingly taking part in violent media, then there will be lasting implications for human relationships and social functioning. Although these societal effects need to be detected and elaborated upon in a research context, these effects have been found among smaller contexts and cultures.
In addition to cognitive effects, violent media use also incurs socialization and physiological effects. The social learning theory can be applied to socialization effects, explaining that whatever viewers consume in the media will (at least to some degree) appear in their own behavior (and thus social interactions). Regarding physiological effects, viewing violence in the media is linked to increased heart rate, which shows media violence effects your body in addition to your mind and social relationships.
All in all, though my pervious comments may contradict what I am about to say…NO, TV does not kill! As Anderson et al. (2010) elaborated, media violence is a risk factor that, if paired with other risk factors (i.e. hostile attribution bias, low SES, aggressive personality, etc.), may result in violent acts. Although in a few rare cases, media violence has greatly contributed to individuals’ decisions to behave violently, for the most part, those who view violent media do not engage in illegal or otherwise harmful behaviors.
Madison, my wife also is very sensitive to television violence. She absolutely cannot stand to see it in any form. Even two people having a fist fight makes her turn away or ask me to fast forward. Sometimes, I wish I was that sensitive to the spirit. I think consuming media violence and working in television news has desensitized me overs the years.
DeleteOne big question is whether media influences individuals to be violent or whether violent individuals seek out violent media. The bidirectionality of these variables is a big factor. Recently, researchers have started to control for aggression before their experiments and have found that aggressive tendencies still increase after participating in violent media, but it just depends. For example, when I watch violent media, I get uncomfortable and grossed out by the gore and lack of empathy of the characters. I also think that it depends on the media content. Is the Movie or episode glorifying violence or speaking against it? Do you walk away with more empathy or are you "want(ing) to start a fight", as Pink puts it? And video games are a whole other story. Are they first person shooters? Or are they Lego Batman? There are some differences there.
ReplyDelete**On a tangent, I feel like relational aggression (mean girls/boys) needs to be looked at even more. The research industry has beat physical violence and aggression with a stick, but it would be great to have parents be more aware of relational aggression because most parents have heard of the aggression literature whether or not they choose to ignore it.
Anyway, sorry about the scatteredness. Back to the subject at hand...I can't speak for the experiences of others because I am not close enough to people who play games like Call of Duty (Popular one) or Grand Theft Auto (This one is awful and just makes me angry! They rape prostitutes for points...Grrr.)
What are the consequences of violent media? Social Learning Theory would suggest that those who watch violent media will learn how to be more violent, are more likely to accept rape myths and are more likely to accept sexist attitudes. In fact, Bandura's theory specifically came about due to his aggression study with the Bobo doll. Increasingly more work has been focused on the methods through which media actually influences aggression. One of these, desensitization, is a mediator that has been pretty well studied in the aggression literature. Those who watch violent media become desensitized and must seek more for a greater high. Additionally, Bushman and Anderson (2005?) published a meta-analysis about the influence of violent video games. They conclude that violent video games are a risk factor and that predisposal to aggression, narcissism and other factors play a part in violent behavior.
When it comes to cognitive effects, I personally think that children, teens and emerging adults are the most susceptible to violent media because the pre-frontal cortex does not fully develop until around age 25. This would probably lead x<25 group to possibly be a more passive audience. Socialization could also play a big part in the effects of violent media. The culture of the United States is extremely violent...and blood thirsty (I couldn't help it). British media is a lot more squeamish with violence (they do slip in the sexual content realm, however.) This also leads to societal influences of terrorism, school shootings, etc (Cultivation Theory?).
I'm assuming by physiological effects that you are referring to a predisposition to violent tendencies and with that in mind, I would say that those who start with a higher level of aggression would definitely be drawn to more violent media and be more influenced by it.
Does TV kill? I would argue that TV can kill. Media is a risk factor. There is a reason that the LDS church leaders have discouraged us from watching violent media. Like I mentioned before, desensitization is key here. We might not go and shoot someone if we watch violent media, but it can influence us in small aggressive ways (aggressive cognitions, moods or behavior) and at the very least, drives the spirit away.
I really like how you brought up what is playing a factor on what. It totally makes sense that violent or aggressive individuals may seek out the violent media, rather than the other way around. I also like that you brought up desensitization. That wasn't something I had fully thought through yet.
Delete"drives the spirit away" - which from the LDS perspective is an element of spiritual death...which in the long, eternal, scheme of things is a way more serious issue than physical death.
DeleteMedia violence and aggression is something that I am rather passionate about, and have been since I was a sophomore in high school. My guy friends in high school had a horrible habit of playing violent video games on the weekends. We’d make plans to hang out with them, and then find that they’d expected us to just watch them until they were finished playing. I noticed on the nights that they played Halo or Call of Duty, they were more abrasive and quicker to argue with each other than on the nights they’d play FIFA or Mario Cart. Later, as a sophomore at BYU I noticed the same trend with a different group of friends. I believe that violent video games can influence the aggressive affect of players. The level of aggression definitely depends on the person, the game, etc. but playing is definitely a contributing factor for aggression!
ReplyDeleteResearch makes a strong case for the effect of violent media on aggressive cognitions (e.g. Anderson, Carnagey, & Eubanks, 2003; Bushman & Anderson, 2002; Bushman & Huesman, 2006). This effect is shown in the General Aggression Model (Bushman & Anderson, 2002), where viewing/playing violent media long term leads to more aggressive thoughts, which can lead to more aggressive behaviors. In terms of socialization, playing or viewing large amounts of violent media leads to desensitization (Bushman & Anderson, 2009), where viewing violent behaviors becomes the norm. A person desensitized to violent media will be less likely to realize when behavior (theirs or others) is becoming inappropriate. A person who views violence all day is less likely to notice aggression, and if they notice it, they are less likely to see it as a bad thing. Physiologically, research shows that playing violent media can increase heart rate and aggressive affect. I’m doing a really cool study MRI this semester on video games and brain activity, where pre-tests are showing that listening to music from a favorite video game is increasing brain activity in the amygdala (the emotion control center of the brain). If just hearing the theme music has that effect on the brain, there is no doubt of its effect on physiology! All of this research is important on a societal level, because as individuals in society watch violent media and increase aggressive cognitions, some will act out in violence on small or large scales.
So does TV kill? I don’t think TV alone kills. I think that viewing violent media increases someone’s susceptibility for violence. There are many risk factors for aggressive behavior, including biology and socialization. A person who is biologically more at risk for aggression will increase their aggressive affect by viewing violent media. A person can become more likely to behave aggressively by viewing violent media, but watching violent media does not make a person violent in and of itself.
I completely agree. I feel that violent media can definitely contribute to other factors, which may cause violence and aggression among those exposed.
DeleteWhat are the consequences of watching violent media or playing violent video games? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThis was a really hard questions for me, seeing as my favorite tv show is “The Walking Dead” and bonding time with my dad consists of playing “Call of Duty” or watching the Bourne series. I think that there is more to it than just exposure. First off, I didn’t watch violent shows or movies until I was probably about 12 or so and even then those were “dad’s movies”, I wasn’t really interested. As I grew older and matured, I watched more “mature” media, however I was mentally more mature than children. I think these major consequence (adult aggressions (murder, rape, violence, etc)) have a few other large factors at play. Watching violence as a child I think can really have an effect. We are so impressional in those young years, that violence is not something we want to have an impression on children. I also think that some of this violence has to stem from mental factors as well. Again, relating back to some of my favorite shows and movies, I am not a very aggressive person at all, however the content I sometimes view can be very violent. I think childhood violence exposure is going to be more of a factor that just violence exposure at a more mature age.
Can you (based on previous class discussions) identify cognitive effects?
I wonder if when children view violence in media, it become “experience”. Whether they physically participated or simply viewed the content, it is an experience. What we experience, especially in youth, becomes what we know. I could see children who are exposed to violence, “knowing” violence, therefore being more prone to acting with what they know: violence. If they see situations in media handled with violence, then what is to stop them from handling conflict in what they know (have seen).
Socialization effects?
When I think of violence in media, it seems like the perpetrators are not alway the most social, outgoing, or even friendly. I remember in highschool, the more aggressive kids were a lot less social. They kept to themselves, yet had a shorter temper it seemed. Kids who are more aggressive also probably encounter more discipline at school which I think could also lead to less socialization (except for among others in their similar situation). I also think about “gamers”. Often I feel like gamers hang with gamers. If these are gamers who participate in violent video games, then they are now surrounding themselves with other individuals who participate in the same aggressive behaviors. Therefore I feel like violence socializes with violence, aggression socializes with aggression.
Physiological effects (this is a new area for our discussion)?
I think that violent media can be a lot less harmful when exposure occurs in more mature ages. The question I raise is what about murderers and sex offenders? Can violent media at a young age cause this? I honestly feel there has to be more to it. Whether there are mental factors, abusive relationship factors, sexual assault factors or so forth. I honestly don’t think that media can be completely to blame for instances like this. However, I could see how large amounts of violent exposure could warp the mind of impressionable children.
Does TV kill?
I think that violent media in early years can lead to aggression, however I feel like more often than not, other factors (expressed above) probably play a larger role. If someone already has mental instability, I think that violence in the media can feed that small flame into something larger (like Gunter mentioned) that murderers would get ideas from media as well as sexual offenders getting thoughts from violent porn. In situations like this I can definitely see violent/sexual media fueling the flame, but I have to think that those other factors play a role prior. However, I can definitely see how violence exposure with children could cause mental instability.
It was interesting to read about some of the short as well as long term effects of violent media. As observed by Alburt Bandura, aggressive behavior can come immediately after the viewing of violent content, but based on the “lab style” experiments, conducted it makes sense. Measuring the effects long term is crucial, but also very difficult to control. I would compare being exposed to violent content and it’s impact on aggression and behavior to diet and exercise. Eating one cheeseburger will likely not have any detrimental effects on long-term health. Immediately after eating the hamburger the effects of the heavy meal and grease may be felt, but in a few hours that bloated feeling subsides and life continues. However, if you were to eat a cheeseburger every meal and every day for a few years, there will likely be consequences for the repeated behavior. There of course are other factors that impact overall health including exercise but what you eat over time tends to have an impact for better or for worse. Some individuals may be more susceptible to weight gains and health issues regardless of diet; there are so many variables that go into the overall health of a person. I think this is similar with violent content and violent video games; some people can feast on violent content and come out less scathed than others, but there is always and effect.
ReplyDeleteThe cognitive effects of violence can be detrimental. It’s amazing that content that would create dissonance in most can over time cause people to be desensitized. As Daisy called out, the fact that people can become more and more desensitized to rape is scary. It is also incredible to me that some types of what I would consider horrible content are readily available to people online.
There are so many socializing agents that it is hard to determine a specific cause in effect when there are typically many contributing factors. This excerpt from our reading summarizing that point the best: “Most researchers of aggression agree that severe aggressive and violent behavior seldom occurs unless there is a convergence of multiple predisposing and precipitating factors such as neurophysiological abnormalities, poor child rearing, socioeconomic deprivation, poor peer relations, attitudes and beliefs sup- porting aggression, drug and alcohol abuse, frustration and provocation, and other factors.” Thus, it really is the aggregation of each of these factors as well as the individuals’ prioritization of certain agents over others that determine the overall effect.
Physiological effects of violence would certainly be interesting to study. As noted in the reading, we can measure all kinds of physiological responses, but it takes post study interviews to confirm the emotion that was experienced. For example, increased heart rate can be cause by excitement as well as fear. I remember watching the movie Gravity in theaters and realizing that my heart was beating pretty fast after 10 minutes of high intensity moments where the characters were doing everything they could to survive. My body put itself in the situation and reacted partially as if I was present for the experience.
We should not underestimate the socializing effectiveness of the media. I think that although we cannot always perfectly conclude the impact that media will have, we know that there is an effect. The Internet has brought all kinds of content that change individuals’ behavior and views. We are all affected by the choices of others and of course ourselves. Micro level decisions and media consumption do have an effect on a macro audience. Media addictions, school shootings, and other behavioral issues that are aided by media consumption have a larger impact on society that is hard to measure but certainly present.
ReplyDeleteDoes TV Kill?
TV can play a contributing role in killing. As discussed previously, we are socialized from all angles. In some instances, TV can play a role as the straw that broke the camels back in causing someone to go and commit a heinous crime. 99.99 percent of the time TV does not have this type of effect, but I do think that it is important to realize that we are all affected in one way or another by our own media choices.
I have always liked the scripture Proverbs 23:7 – “As a man thinketh, so is he.” What we think essentially becomes how we act and who we are. But what we think comes from our life experiences – what we are exposed to or what we consciously seek out. Even then, our brains our selective about what to retain and reenact. I don't know of anyone who has escaped media violence effectively or completely, and I know that some gore I can completely dismiss as "fake" and continue watching guiltlessly as zombies get blown apart (I mean, blood is not that color REALLY...) Thus, studying violence in media and its effect on me/us is far more complex than I can possibly understand. But here are my opinions anyway.
ReplyDeleteCognitive effects of violent media or video games: Explained a bit by desensitization theory in Heusmann et al. (2003) – simply blood and gore become a natural part of what we see, and as one is exposed to it more, the shock and reality wear off. My husband loves war movies and lots of action and seems unaffected by particularly graphic scenes. However, he also grew up in Mexico amidst massive drug cartel violence, so who knows what has affected him more. The articles we read today also mentioned identification of the viewer with a “similar” or at least same gender “other” on television that was performing violent acts. Identification and even a parasocial relationship would likely effect how violence from the media was processed.
Socialization effects: Along with observational learning theory/ social learning theory from class – people (particularly children) re-enact what they see. If there is no negative reinforcement, or if children seek out media to justify their aggressive inclinations, aggression and violence may have a deep effect.
Physiological effects: As Huesmann spoke about – desensitization theory explains some of these effects. When we see violence, usually there is some sort of negative reaction, (feeling empathy, or even just feeling sick) that causes us to stop watching or help out or SOMETHING. However, with increased exposure there won’t be these reactions. It makes me think of a doctor who progressively becomes "all business" in the operating room -- unaffected by his job.
Macro or societal effects: A study published in 2010 found that empathy in college age students has decreased dramatically – three-fourths of the population is below the mean scores of empathy of the 1979 population (Konrath, O’brien, Hsing, 2010). Could it be that our massive societal exposure and dependence on television has made us this way? However, to contradict this point, there are more participatory (I dare say less violent) forms of media – like social media- that are taking a stab back (no pun intended) and helping people to feel more empathy towards others. http://www.dailydot.com/) But at any rate – violence is more commonplace in our society today. With yet another college shooting just recently – I believe that media has influenced the shooter’s decisions in some way or another.
So…does TV kill? Gunter (2008) brings up some good points about media consumption and violence. He also is a champion of the most vague conclusion of media effects and television possibly ever written, but I understand it is based on the data he has studied, which is equally ambiguous. At any rate, it is apparent that historically humans have looked toward media as a simple scapegoat for horrific incidents of aggression. However, as the Gods-in-training that we are, we are not powerless. Media cannot force a person to act in a certain way. There is always a choice, even when it comes to young children and extremely violent acts. Yes, media can affect us. But so does the rest of the world around us. TV does not kill. Humans choose to.
Sources:
Konrath, S. H., O'Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2010). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review. Doi: 10.1177/1088868310377395
One of my brother’s favorite video games growing up was HALO, and it was fun! Compared to some he may not have played too much, but it was too much in our house. Sometimes he just seemed glued to playing. Usually my brother is a level headed kid but while in that zone and shortly thereafter we always noticed he was a little more aggressive. Sometimes my sister would get after him when he was mean to her and tell him it was because he was playing too many video games. But thanks to a good narrow socialization structure, my brother has never displayed public violent behavior.
ReplyDeleteAs Huesmann et al., (2003) found in their longitudinal study, the children that grew up as adults still had aggression and violence problems. And violence and aggression didn’t just affect men. This is in congruence with one study that I read, which found that social aggression was more evident in boys and girls who regularly watched socially aggressive reality TV programs (Ward and Carlson, 2013). Although I believe that not all viewers of media violence will turn out as behaving in extreme, in general there is an aggressive trend of behavior especially when it is not addressed by their primary socialization. The participants in study by Huesmann et al. (2003) perceived the violence as real and highly identified with the violent characters. I feel that the perceived realism is explained through cultivation theory. The more someone sees that violent behavior, the more they believe the world is really that way. This can have drastic psychological affects. How will these children respond to conflict, in family and work settings or deal with stress?
In regards to cognition and socialization I’ll refer to another childhood experience. When my brother and I were in elementary school for about a year, we got into pro wrestling. Although our parents and others had told us it was “fake” we somehow that that it was still okay to play WWF and tried to emulate that fighting style on each other. Maybe we thought if the wrestlers didn’t seem to get too hurt then we would not really hurt each other. But like the saying goes, it was all fun and games until we got hurt, usually me hurting my little brother. Our adult family members, the Socializers, had to intervene and stop us from hurting each other anymore. We eventually grew out of it but I think in large part due to emphasis of parents and others that that was not the correct way to behave. But what about kids who don’t have dependable primary socialization? I think they just keep turning back to the violence.
Society is driven to what sells and evidently “violence sells”. In my junior year at ASU, my popular theory com class watched the video Tough Guise (1999) by Jackson Katz, which documented the increasing influence of aggressive behavior in male media figures. One item in the film that I found was interesting was that as the decades went by, the film showed how gun and weapon size had increased in popular movies, and also how muscle size had increased in super heroes.
TV kills! But how much do we individually and culturally allow it to kill is another question. I don’t completely agree with the proposal by Gunter (2008) that there is a case for causality that some individuals aren’t affected by violence in the media (citing Schramm et al, 1961) or some research may be questionable. The question isn’t whether they are or not affected but rather how much media do they need to be exposed to. Everyone is affected. We are always learning as we have discussed in class. I submit that those who aren’t very violent to begin with would become more violent with TV and those who are very violent and don’t watch TV would be even more violent.
I think there are definitely effects, although as the readings pointed out, they are by no means universal, consistent, or guaranteed. I personally have never played violent video games and don’t know many people who do. Violent TV shows and movies are much more common in “my crowd.” Honestly, aside from only semi-serious verbal aggression, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying any behaviors were caused by exposure to media violence.
ReplyDeleteHowever, cognitive and attitudinal changes are much more prevalent. I don’t know so much about my friends, but I feel that my attitudes towards violence and its boundaries of acceptance have changed. For example, while walking down the streets alone at night or being in less-than safe circumstances, I’ve often thought about what I would do if someone were to attack. Although whatever I did would be in self-defense, I think my violent media exposure has slowly led me from hit-him-once-and-run-away to beat-the-freakin-crap-out-of-the-low-life-that-dared-to-touch-me. Perhaps all that exposure has lead me to hate criminals and changed my attitude towards a kind of vengeance, rather than just basic self-defense.
In fact once, I almost got the opportunity to use it. Once while studying abroad in Europe, someone came up to me in a subway station, stuck something in my back, and growled in my ear, “Give me all your money.” Surprisingly, my reaction was not fear, but anger and indignation. I was ready to turn around and both insult and injure. As it turned out, it was one of my classmates playing a joke. But if it had been real, I’d probably have gotten myself into big trouble, since I don’t really know how to beat someone up, especially if they have a weapon.
Anyway, this leads to my thoughts on socialization. I think the prevalence of violence in the media has definitely desensitized many people and mediated our understanding of and attitudes towards violence. Both fictional violence and reports of real violence are so common that we assume that many people are aggressive (“mean world”) and that many violent acts are, if not acceptable, at least understandable. More than anything, I think we’ve learned to justify or accept many forms of aggression (i.e. road rage, war, school yard fist fights, James Bond style violence, etc.).
As far as physiological effects, I will again refer to first-hand experience. I love action movies, which inherently have a lot of violence. I love the rush of adrenaline, which sometimes I think tricks my body/brain into feeling like it can handle more physically than it can. I do leave a theater a little pumped physically and primed mentally to act more aggressively if needed (but it’s never needed, so it quickly wears away).
Finally, as for macro/societal effects, I think media violence makes us more tolerant of real acts of violence that we shouldn’t ever allow. In addition, there are those unique circumstances were un-balanced people are affected so much that they do crazy things like mass shootings, which clearly affect society as a whole. But I don’t think everyone is inherently more violent, aggressive, or tolerant. Naturally, media effects have their limits.
So to answer the question, “Does TV kill?,” I say it can, but not that often.
ReplyDeleteCONSEQUENCES:
It is generally believed that frequent sojourning in the world of television and video games affect viewers perception of reality. That exposure to media violence reinforces aggression, That media stories with sexual depictions lead to risky sexual behaviors and that bad language leads to coarse expressions.
WHAT I THINK?
There are indeed disturbing scenarios in the media but television is just of one the sundry other determinants of aggressive behaviors. In a 1977 survey with "TV Guide" out of 208 prisoners, 9 out 10 admitted that they learned new tricks by watching crime shows. 4 out of 10 admitted that they attempted the crime as seen on television. But Social Researchers have disprove this notion by conducting media effects research and came up with Minimal Effects Model to demonstrate that media alone cannot cause people to change their attitudes and behaviors. Through controlled experiments and surveys, researchers argued that people generally engage in selective exposure and selective retention with regard to media. This simply implies that people expose themselves to the media messages that are most familiar to them and they retain messages that confirm their values and attitudes that they already hold.
COGNITIVE EFFECTS
The above example is very apt in identifying cognitive effects-The prisoners in the survey believed the media sold the idea to them and they simply translate or act the script. Cognitive effects revolves around the notion that depiction of certain anti and prosocial behavior might have activated thoughts that relates to the observed event.
SOCIALIZATION EFFECTS:
Video games like other media forms as an example impacts the identity of children. Unlike girls, boys tend to be more into video games partly because violence and aggression are central to most of the games and often with male characters. In instances where females are depicted, they are portrayed as sex objects.
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS:
Times without number, i have seen kids mimicking Disney cartoon character "Lightning Macquin" in Walmart with shopping carts. This crave for speed in such environment supports the research that exposure to television and movie violence increases aggressive behavior.
MACRO or SOCIETAL EFFECTS:
When the Radio broadcast "War of the Worlds" which presented H.G Well's martian invasion hit the airwaves in a form of news report in October 30, 1930, millions of listeners started cultivating it, left most people frightened as they didn't realize it was fictional.
CAN TV KILL?
When television or video games users are considered in consonance with certain health complications like Sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habit then T.V could be a death trap. Studies have correlated that the average amount of television watched (by children of all ages) increased obesity, lower reading level, and lack of social development. A study published by the Journal of American Medical Association shows that watching 2 hours of TV a day:
1. Will increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 20%.
2. Will increase risk of heart disease by 15%.
3. and will increase premature deaths by 13%.
This might be a serious issue for those, i think, Americans call "Couch Potatoes" but may not necessarily hold true for those who work from home spending close to 6 hours per day working behind the computers.
T.V might be able to kill, but not without your consent.
In my own experience, I guess I’ve become desensitized to some things that may fall into the violent and aggressive entertainment category. In our culture today, action-packed movies and violent tv shows are what people are drawn to. How many times have we watched the Transformers movies, the Bourne series, The Hunger Games, even Harry Potter and paused to think about the amount of violence they contain? I know I don’t. Violence (whether heavy or not) in the media has become so normal to us that we hardly notice it because of that entertainment factor. But what is it doing to us?
ReplyDeleteAfter watching a movie with violent or aggressive content, I don’t necessarily get the urge to act out the same things I see play out in the media, but I’ve noticed that some movies (depending on the level of violence or aggression they contain) affect my mood. Like we discussed earlier this semester, the degree to which media affects us depends on a lot of other factors and influences, so it is with violent media. I think we are all vulnerable to it in different degrees, some are like me where moods and attitudes are affected, and some are affected to a higher degree on cognitive, social, and physiological levels. Children and youth in particular are at an age where their minds are developing and violent media may have a larger and more prominent impact with how they learn to perceive and understand violence and reality. When I was about 5, my siblings and I used to watch the x-men cartoons every morning...that routine quickly ended one morning when my mom found my sister and I screaming because my brother was running around with a fork in each hand pretending to be wolverine, chasing us and clawing the walls. Children tend to imitate what they see, especially if it is portrayed as cool. “[W]e do not need to be as concerned about adults’ or even teenagers’ exposure to media violence as much as we do with children’s’ exposure. Media violence may have short-term effects on adults, but the real long-term effects seem to occur only with children.” The effects of that exposure may manifest themselves right after or later in life as adults.
Some adults may lose their sense of reality through media. We discussed parasocial relationships in class recently. What happens when someone forms a parasocial relationship with a character with violent tendencies, so much that they want to be like that person? One instance I can think of that may be an example of this is when that one guy went into a Colorado theater and shot into the audience dressed similarly to the villain in the last Batman movie. Obviously there was more to that incident, but I truly do think that violence in the media has an effect on consumers of media. There’s also so much more that can lead to tolerance or imitation of violence. Exposure to violence does not always come from the media. One of the articles we were assigned explained that the results of their research were “consistent with the ‘justification theory’—that more aggressive children are more likely to watch media violence because it makes their own behavior seem normal. Their subsequent viewing of violence then increases their aggressive scripts, schemas, and beliefs through observational learning and makes subsequent aggression even more likely.” Can it be the same with adults?
Erica, I think you nailed it on the head ( to use a vilolent metaphor). Ha. But most of us will not go out and commit violent acts but violence does affect us no matter what. Thats my argument. Its just like aggressive music, like rock or rap. How do we feel when we listen to aggressive music? Now how do we feel when we listen to hymns? I dont think anyone can deny this. So i cant deny violence affects us, mainly through social agression but other factors can push us to physical actions, sometimes from other cognitive and social factors, but sometimes by the repeated viewing of violent images. We cant escape it unless omit it from our lives
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ReplyDeleteWith regard to macro/societal effects of violent media exposure, I think we need to note that “the psychological laws of observational learning, habituation/desensitization, priming, and excitation transfer are immutable and universal.” As I mentioned before, as a society we have become desensitized to certain degrees of violence in media, some people more than others. The more we watch it, the more it can affect us. Recently there have been many school shootings happening across the country. Could our exposure to violent media and our desensitization to it make us feel like these things are remotely ok and normal? I like the example given in one of the research articles about likening exposure to smoking cigarettes. “[J]ust as every cigarette one smokes increases a little bit the likelihood of a lung tumor someday, the theory supported by this research suggests that every violent TV show increases a little bit the likelihood of a child growing up to behave more aggressively in some situation.” I think this is definitely true for children, but it can also be true for adults. I don’t know how each of our brains work, but I do know that we are all different and for some reason some people may be influenced by different things and media violence can have different effects on people. Do I think TV kills? No; it may catalyze or even help instill violent tendencies and behavior, but there are other factors and much more influential sources that have a greater impact on behavior.
ReplyDeleteI have hardly had any feelings or outbursts of violence in my own experiences of exposure to violence and aggression. However, growing up with three older brothers, I have observed that there were some media influence on them. I remember when Mortal Kombat was the best and coolest game to play and it was always in the arcades too. People waited in lines to play it. My mom had a rule in the house for a very long time that we (mostly my brothers) were not allowed to play it and she would never buy the game. I think that was the first time I recognized that Mortal Kombat was a fighting game with blood. My mom said she didn’t want to buy it because of the blood, but I also think it was because of the violence of beating each other up. Regardless of having the game in our home, my brothers would still pretend fight as if they were the characters in Mortal Kombat. I tried to play with them and act as the damsel in distress, but then I now know that that didn’t exist and that’s why my brothers ignored me. Haha!
ReplyDeleteThe consequences of watching violent media or playing violent video games are how people react after viewing or playing them. In Gunter’s (2008) article, he mentions that sometimes the effects are “offered as a defense by perpetrators.” I think some people may want to try the violence out and see if it truly does work as what is shown in games and media. It sounds strange, but I remember hearing about how some teenagers wanted to try out the killings of The Invisible Man. Maybe it was a show I watched or it could have been the news, but I remember that that was the teenagers’ explanations as to why they did the things they did.
The cognitive effects in viewing violent media or playing violent video games depend on the amount watched or played and how the viewer responds to it. In Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, and Eron’s (2003) article, they discussed how there can be a third party factor caused by the parents. It depended on how the parents treated their children and others through physical abuse or mental abuse. I think it also depends on how people are influenced by things in their life.
Watching violent media can play a huge role in socialization. For children, I think it makes them grow up a little more detached from reality. They become more involved and engrossed in what is on the screen in front of them than what is in their reality. I will use one of my brothers as an example. When he is not working, he is usually playing video games. If he watches TV or a movie, it’s usually an action movie. His sense of reality is diminishing and it is really sad.
Does TV kill? It is so hard to truly answer it with a yes or a no. From our readings, it really depends on the person and his or her development in life and their morals. I don’t believe that someone who has grown up good can do something bad, but if you think of some TV shows/movies, there are characters that do those things. Again, this is a fictional show, but it could influence a viewer. Honestly, I don’t know if TV kills. Maybe.
As I look to my own personal experiences with this intriguing concept, I am able to note many memories where such stereotypical theories were proven true.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the most cliché answer to these questions, would be to say that the viewers are likely to develop similar attitudes, which will never bode outside the virtual world. That said I feel that such a question must be addressed from a different standpoint. When considering the consequences of watching or playing violent media, we need to remember that such types of media create feelings of fear, and or depression. In studies of audiences continued pull toward horror movies, we can learn that although these thrilling media vibes may initially seem like a good idea, the end result is not always the same. It leaves viewers/participants feeling empty and unsatisfied, always wanting more.
The cognitive, social, physiological, macro, and societal effects of such harsh media are nothing to take lightly. They aren’t feelings that can be brushed off over a bowl of Captain Crunch. No, they cling to the walls of our minds, and stick to the shadows of our daily, even hourly actions. These effects, although varied in levels of seriousness, are all born from the same seed. Good intentions. Theoretically, we as consumers of this type of media, tend to remain oblivious to these effects, until they have spread too far for an easy fix.
All things considered, I feel like TV can kill in a number of ways. When we ponder the question, “Can TV kill?” our minds immediately turn to memories of deranged delinquents, shooting up movie theaters. That thought process established, there are many levels of killing violent television consumption can cause, that may not be at the forefront of our minds. Such abnormal mannerisms don’t seem abnormal in a video game, or in a movie. In fact, our minds almost expect it. I movie that would accurately portray reality would never sell. That’s just the way of things. And we always want more. It’s never enough. So to come full circle, yes, TV can kill. Slowly, subconsciously, we begin to become more and more desensitized and jaded to the lasting effects such raw material can have on our minds, and lives.
Growing up I did consume violent and aggressive media through movies, music and video games. However, I do not feel that violent media has instilled in me any need or reasons to hurt others. I am more influenced by characters that I identify with in realistic non-violent movies. Similarly someone that has aggressive tendencies might relate to violent characters in the media and learn unrealistic cognitive justifications for violent behavior.
ReplyDeleteThe games I played were merely for entertainment and competition between friends. On the other hand, it was easy to not associate video games with real life because of the poor graphics back then. Could new realistic virtual reality video games have a higher impact on desensitization than before? This blur between reality and fiction could have a huge impact on the effects violent media has.
My socialization process had many factors that were more influential than the media I consumed like religion, family and school. If someone's socialization process is highly dependent on the media, I think violent media would have a larger impact on the child's behaviors growing up.
Physiological effects of consuming violent media could result in a stress response that releases adrenaline which in turn increases blood pressure and heart rate. This effect is usually reserved life threatening situations so we can either fight or flee effectively. However, persistent exposure to high levels of adrenaline has been linked to anxiety and depression. Therefore, constant consumption of violent media that puts someone in that stressed state could potentially have harmful physiological long-term effects.
I think we can't really blame the television for the violent behaviors that plague society. It is the parent's duty to ensure a healthy socialization for their children through a wide variety of sources. Children should have strong anti-violence beliefs and values instilled in them to inoculate them from possible media influence.
Honestly I don't feel like violent media *causes* violence in real life. There are way too many people playing violent video games—we’d have a lot more crises if it was a direct cause and effect. I do think, however, that certain personalities who are very violent can use violent media and then become more violent. It can exasperate violent feelings.
ReplyDeleteI come from a place of Uses and Gratifications on this. People choose violent media for certain uses. I talked with my husband about this. He said his roommates usually used violent video games to numb their feelings. He remembers his roommate getting dumped and then spending the next three weeks binge playing every violent video game he could get his hands on so he didn’t have to feel the emotions of real life. Others may use violent media for other uses. I think it fulfills different needs.
I do think it does have some interesting socialization implications. My husband recently witnessed a stabbing at his work. When he and his coworkers looked up and saw the woman covered in blood, their first thought was that someone was playing a trick on them. Blood and violence was automatically assumed to be unreal. No one reacted for a minute or two. When he realized what was really going on, he then went into shock. It’s interesting that violence can be such a common occurrence in movies, news reports and more, but not a common occurrence in our daily lives (at least in my husband’s life). It’s interesting that it’s so accepted in media, but literally sent everyone into shock when they ran into it in real life.
I was never interested in violent video games or movies growing up, so the topic is a bit difficult to relate to; however, I can respond with personal opinions on the matter. The question of the effects of violent media on the consumers’ brains is similar to the “chicken and the egg” question. Is media making people violent or are people who are violent in the first place drawn to aggressive video games and movies?
ReplyDeleteLike Tambi mentioned, most people grow up being influenced by a myriad of factors: family, religion, school. It would be silly to suppose that media influences people more than the rest of their interactions, unless their media exposure is excessive. Also, some amount of aggression is natural to humans. Boys fight at school regardless of whether or not they watch anything violent – they are wired that way. What if violent video games are a better (safer) channel to let out all of the natural aggression built up in an immature individual? My feeling is that moderate exposure to violent media could have a positive impact on people. This is actually a physiological effect, since media might be successful in helping kids let out some aggression that otherwise would have been expressed in a real world fight.
Basically, I believe that everything is good in moderation:)
I look back at the TV I watched as a child and can say that the most violent show was Tom and Jerry, by far. This was not the modern version where everything is softened, it was a world filled with hammers, mallets, anvils, and mousetraps everywhere that slammed into every part of Tom's body. It was continuous, too. Even at that, I was never inclined to drop an anvil on my brother's head or smash his hand with a hammer. I think I understood that it would hurt very badly and that is not the right thing to do and, therefore, the inclination was not there (also, anvils are not as ubiquitous in the real world).
ReplyDeleteI do remember my parents telling me about 'the boy' who ate some spinach and went out and tried to stop a train with his bare hand. It did not end well for 'the boy'. I imagine there were a certain subset of children who, even after a certain age, could not differentiate between real and make believe. This subset is likely very suceptable to acting out violence seen on TV.
I think all the violence did numb me to the idea of hurting others (or of others being hurt). The ability to categorize real from imaginary would create a situation where I could be violent or tolerate other's violence by simply catergorizing a real person as 'not'. By categorizing another as 'not' I would either see them as not being real or not being a person. That would make doing or seeing violence perpetrated against the 'not' as nothing more than a scene from Tom and Jerry. In other words, becoming used to the violence could set up a cognative state where violence would be tolerated.
Some effects that I have heard about (take it how you will) has to do with the jody calls the Army sung during the Vietnam War. Prior to Vietnam, one in about four soldiers would shoot off into the air rather than shoot directly at another person- even another person who is likely shooting directly at them. This was a very ineffective way to try and attack an enemy (1/4 of the shoots weren't even aimed at the enemy which means the percentage that actually hit an enemy soldier had to be down around 10% of shots fired). The Army tried to fix this by promoting especially violent jody calls (the songs soldiers sing as the run) to get the troops mentally prepared to shoot at another person. This was effective, increasing the casualty rates of the enemy. Jody calls are not TV, but both are/were reinforcing a mindset through constant exposure to violence. The equivalent mass media theory to what the Army did would likely be Media Theory, where the power was put in the Army's (equivalent to Mass Media) hand and soldiers had little choice in how they consumed the jody calls.
I think it’s funny that so many people brought up what they weren’t allowed to watch when they were younger, because I didn’t even consider that when I was reading these. I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats because Angelica’s parents don’t love her, and I wasn’t allowed to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because there are no consequences at the end and he doesn’t get in trouble. But I think those teach a more important underlying message – I believe that all media affects us in some way, even if it is at a subconscious level. I think my mom was worried that if I watched Ferris Bueller, I would think it was okay to lie and steal and cheat, and that I would believe that there is a world in which consequences don’t apply. The exact same is true of violent media. There are always consequences, whether or not they are visible at the surface.
ReplyDeleteOn a more specific note, my younger brothers weren’t allowed to play violent video games when we first got an xbox about 12 years ago. They were only allowed to play sports games – football, golf, baseball, etc. One of my brothers actually got really good at football because of this. The effect of the game on him was that he could better visualize the field, he could better predict how a play would benefit the team, and he knew all the professional and collegiate players.
One more example. My husband has a childhood friend who comes over every week and they play video games together. This friend of his is actually getting his master’s in video game production, which is a thing, apparently, and therefore knows all the latest and greatest. He brings over new games all the time for my husband to play, and they are always SUPER violent. I hate it. I can’t watch them play them together because I hate watching the insane stuff they do in the games. I’ve noticed that, although he doesn’t get increasingly violent, my husband will get angry or frustrated more easily after he’s played one of these games. It sets him on edge in a way that almost nothing else does, and it’s super interesting because he doesn’t think they affect him at all.
COGNITIVE: Violent media is the quintessential example for cultivation theory. If we see violent media, we think the world is violent. This is a purely cognitive reaction that, I think, is very difficult to be aware of and/or control.
SOCIALIZATION: I just keep thinking about social learning theory, where in this case violent behavior must be seen, read, or listened to, then retained, and the learner must have potential and motivation to replicate the action. Although this is more behavioral, I think it is definitely linked to how we interact with others.
PHYSIOLOGICAL: This is tricky. I totally agree with Daisy that sensory processing is always associated with physical responses. But I tend to think that most violent media has delayed responses for most people, so I’m not sure if viewing actually causes notable physiological changes. Rather, it’s the recall that can cause physiological reactions. But I’m honestly not sure. Maybe recall would still technically be an effect of violent media.
MACRO/SOCIETAL: There are a lot of effects here, but I think they’re more telling in response than in viewing. Going back to school shootings as an example, think of all of the policies that people want to change because of seeing examples of violence in the media! If these shootings weren’t as widely covered by the media, I don’t think the societal response would be nearly as strong.
Does TV kill? If this means by extension of people who turn violent because of viewing, I don’t think so. I think that violence in media has behavioral and cognitive effects, but not lethal. If anything, it makes people’s tempers/personalities more sensitive to changes/emotions present in their environments (like my husband after he plays violent video games).
Think about your own experiences and the experiences of others that you have observed. What are the consequences of watching violent media or playing violent video games?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I have very little personal experience with violence because I naturally recoil every time I'm faced with it in the media. I even flinch during the Pokemon Movie. The discussion posed here reminds me a lot of Cultivation Theory. I think children don't play outside as much anymore- not because of technologies inside, but the exposure of horrible events on the news are so much more prevalent today that parents don't want to let their kids go. In the same way, the more one is exposed to violence in the media, the more that worldview becomes normalized and therefore more actionable. I'd agree further with Gunter that these effects are not directly related but can be correlated.
Can you identify cognitive effects?
Many people here have identified desensitization as a major effect. But as with any heavy media exposure, the wits and all sensibilities become dulled as the senses are spoon-fed information.
Socialization effects?
After prolonged exposure, you may begin to categorize people to reflect the friend/foe paradigm that media will categorize groups into in order to justify the violence used.
Physiological effects?
I mentioned above about the slowing of wit and reaction timeing. But I think just like any decaying soul exposed to ungodlyness, a person's appearance can become weighted down- even just to forget violent images. Expending energy to keep innappropriate thoughts away and switching between realities not to mention the drag on one's soul is often evident in the appearance of the viewer.
Macro or societal effects?
I definitely can see the worship of Bad-A** tropes in everyday life. If men's narrative is to be a protecter, it isn't in his best interest just be always be on the defensive but the offensive as well. This includes aggression in watching sports, the urge to compete, and interpreting manliness as appearing as though one could walk away from a burning building without looking back. I happen to agree with that being cool.
"Does TV kill?"
I have to say, the way this question is worded, I don't think anyone would expect an answer to the negative. Honestly, yes- I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that even if media and humanity are in a symbiotic relationship with one another (ie. media reflects life and life reflects media), that there is a relationship between the two. Would I go to far as to say TV kills? No. You can't stop a bird from landing on your head, but you don't have to let it build a nest. Regular exposure may be voluntary or not. But as the article said, the manner in which you approach the material has a lot to do with it's ability to affect you. I'm of the camp that believes there are many factors that go into the decision to watch violent media, accept it, and give it any amount of credibility. I actually also believe in violence justice. Just like nudity, violence can be portrayed with grace and dignity. and we'd be fools to think those who create the violent messages don't have a worldview themselves.