Under the Influence of Media Violence

 

 

 

 

Under the Influence of Media Violence

                Laura Stockdale, from our very own Department of Psychology at Loyola University Chicago, spoke to our Neuroscience seminar about some of her work. She has researched and studied the effects that media has on people within our culture. The debate with this is whether the violence seen in movies, television, and video games is directly correlated to the anger, aggression, and violence in everyday lives.  Our society has been dramatically influenced by media, especially in terms of violence. Media violence has been a popular topic for quite a few decades, especially because of video games, action movies, etc. According to the work and studies of Stockdale, media violence may actually have a much larger impact on us than we believe. We all spend countless hours online, with social media becoming a large part of our daily lives. According to “The Effects of Media Violence on Society”, youth spend approximately eleven hours per day either watching television, or on the internet. And according to Anderson, the violence seen in the media actually has a presence on their lives.

                According to Stockdale’s research, there is actually a direct, positive relationship between being introduced to violence within the media at an early age, and then expressing violent, aggressive behavior. Stockdale has compared this relationship to the relationship between calcium intake and bone density. The positive correlation between media violence and violent behavior later in life is, surprisingly, much higher than the correlation between calcium and bone density. Stockdale also pointed out another fact. Although people may argue that they can eliminate the media with violence from their lives and those of their children, they don’t realize that violence in media is actually takes up the majority of media- over 60%. In “The Effects of Media Violence in Society”, Anderson and Bushman agree that there is a positive correlation between media violence and aggression.

The American Psychological Association has made a clear point. There is a difference between visual violence and video game violence. Video violence is only viewed- the viewer doesn’t physically act upon it. However, video game violence requires the active physical participation of the player. The American Psychological Association clarified the difference between the two, because one involves the active physical action to participate. Video games are influencing our youth much more than we know of. According to Anderson, people, especially children, that play video games involving violence, are victims of “increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, and decreased empathy and presocial behavior (The Effects of Media Violence on Society). There are no studies that prove that one type of social media leads to more aggressive behavior or not, but this is an interesting study that should be conducted in the future.

                      With media and violence being a large topic for several years now, and the correlation being scientifically proven through extensive research, it seems as if people still aren’t willing to eliminate this from their lives. Without people willing to change themselves and their society, no further progress can be made on behalf of the consumers. The power is in the hands of the producers- those that create the video games and movies.

"Violence in the Media - Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychology Association, Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.

Anderson, C. A. "The Effects of Media Violence on Society." Science295.5564 (2002): 2377-379. Print

Pozios, Vasilis K, Praveen R. Kambam and Eric H. Bender. “Does Media Violence Lead to the Real Thing.” New York Times 23 August 2013.