A number of studies and research
has been conducted surrounding the impact of media violence on the human brain,
with a greater emphasis on their effects on cognition and behavior. There has
been some skepticism regarding whether media violence actually affects us. Work
being done at the University of Michigan and University of Potsdam is attempting
to show a correlation between media violence and individuals’ behaviors,
specifically if exposure to violent media stimuli have short term effects;
other studies being conducted are cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
relating to habitual media violence exposure. The research for such short term
effect experiment is carried out by examining individuals’ skin conductance
levels as well as lexical decision tasks. The goal here is not only to find a
correlation between exposure to media violence and behavior, but also to
possibly discover the underlying mechanism that causes violent input to cause
aggressive output. This study concluded that habitual media violence exposure
was unrelated to both unprovoked and provoked aggression for both genders. The
researchers did not find any correlations between skin conductance levels and aggressive
cognitions and behavior. However, the researchers did go on to explain a number
of limitations in their studies. In taking these into account some of the
findings did support the theory that media violence promoted aggression-enhancing
cognitions and the likelihood of initiating proactive aggressive behavior.
Directly related
to this line of research is if whether or not media violence can have effects
in children and adults. Laura Stockdale explained in her lecture that there are
varying reasons why people are exposed to such amount of media in the first
place. She explains how males generally consume more media than females, this
is due to the time males spend playing video games in comparison to females. She
also explained the phenomenon of how increasingly younger children are being
exposed to media violence, and the large amount of time that they spend
consuming it. One interesting fact about this media consumption dealt with the
parent’ education level, children whose parents had higher educational levels
generally consumed less media. Stockdale’s studies focused on physical and
relational aggression as a consequence of violent media consumption. Also
important in the measure of media effects is pro-social behavior (helping
others). The fact that the media is saturated with violence in the recent past means
that relational and physical aggression will continue to persist in media and
those who consume the media. Stockdale concludes that being exposed to media
violence does affect emotional processing and thus highly influences aggression
in not only adults, but children of all ages as well (more so for children, as
the effects are greater in children exposed at young ages).
Overall, the
research has shown that exposure to violent media creates a risk factor that
can account for increased aggression. These studies, and numerous others, have
also suggested that short term (and long term) exposure to violent media
content increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior. The findings will help
in better understanding the intricacies of how we process visual data and act
upon the environment that we are exposed to. In this way we understand what
kinds of media content are bad for us and what we can do to help our children
and those affected by large amounts of violent media consumption.
Sources:
Krahé, Barbara, Ingrid Möller, L.
Rowell Huesmann, Lucyna Kirwil, Juliane Felber, and Anja Berger.
"Desensitization to Media Violence: Links with Habitual Media Violence
Exposure, Aggressive Cognitions, and Aggressive Behavior." Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology 100.4 (2012): 630-46. Print.
Stockdale, Laura. "Media
Violence and Your Brain: Can Exposure to Violence Really Lead You to See the
World through Blood-tinted Glasses?" Lecture.
No comments:
Post a Comment