Effects of Media Violence on Society

The Impact of Media Violence on Society

The current world is characterized by extensive advancement in technology that has influenced almost every household to own a television. The embracement of television demonstrates its importance to the people including children. However, it has crippled the use of written materials as the source of news. Similarly, other digital devices such as computers, laptops, and Smartphones have increased accessibility of diverse information that has contributed to the deterioration of the society. The increased access of violent games and movies inspire the audience to become aggressive and violent to other members of the society. The paper seeks to demonstrate how media violence contributes to the experienced violence in the world.

Influence of Violent Media on Aggression

Increased access to violent media influences players to develop negative assessments on the actual things and as a result become aggressive. According to Gao et al. (2), the game character adopted by players when playing video games affects their behavior. They argue that individuals are often swayed by the physical characteristics of the virtual characters to develop negative attitude. For instance, the appearance, race as well as the moral attributes of characters influence players to become aggressive in life. In support of this assertion, Gao et al. (2) indicate that individuals who play as black characters develop negative assessments and often present aggressive behavior following the completion of the game. Similarly, they argue that the assuming of characters from different backgrounds by the players contribute to attitude change and loss of morality (Gao et al. 1). For instance, the playing of unjustified roles such as invading other people’s countries for unjustifiable reasons increases moral anxiety as well as negative emotions in the players. Unfortunately, these outcomes affect the personality traits of individuals leading to their practice of immoral behaviors in the society. Based on these arguments, one can conclude that the aggressiveness of most blacks in the current society is as a result of their interaction with violent games.

The Reinforcement of Hostile Reactions through Violent Media

The aggressive virtual reality in videos and games reinforces hostile reactions and behaviors in the audience, resulting in hostile effects. According to Strasburger and Donnerstein (721), mass shootings experienced in Jonesboro in 1998 and in Aurora and Colorado in 2012 were as a result of exposure to violent media. They argue that the perpetrators of these crimes were young people who are victims of media effects. According to Strasburger and Donnerstein (721), exposure to violent video games leads to juvenile delinquency. Similarly, they argue that most parents believe that violent content influences the development of aggressive behavior in children. In support of this claim, Strasburger and Donnerstein note that the interactive nature of this media has a significant impact on aggression when compared with traditional media like television (Strasburger and Donnerstein 722). Moreover, they note that the recurring of actions in addition to active participation when playing video games influence the development of aggressive cognitions in the players. Prescott, Sargent, and Hull (1) concur with this argument by indicating that video game play triggers not only aggressive behavior and aggressive effect but also aggressive cognition. Similarly, IOWA State University (2017) asserts that violent media promotes real-world aggression, which is often demonstrated by physical aggression of many people. The same argument is also made by more than 1000 studies that evaluated the implications of TV and film violence in the past 40 years. All these studies showed that TV violence fosters aggression in addition to social anxiety that negatively affects the behaviors of people in the real world (Phillips 3).

Detrimental Psychological Implications of Violent Media

Violent media contributes to detrimental psychological implications by increasing angry feelings. In their study, Strasburger and Donnerstein (722) learned that playing video games triggers physiological arousal such as high heart rates. The arousal is as a result of the tension created by terrifying actions by characters in the movie or games. For instance, the killing of other people in the film creates tension in the audience. Similarly, Strasburger and Donnerstein (722) note that this media exposes teens to disruptive behavior disorder. According to them, the events in the films impair the normal functioning of the brain, which as a result make individuals present unusual behaviors. For instance, they argue that Anders Breivik’s obsession with violent media (violent video game) influenced him to kill 69 people in Norway through mass shooting. Similarly, Strasburger and Donnerstein (722) indicate that the recent killing of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown demonstrates the contributions of violent media to the violence experienced in the world. According to Glynn (1), a 15-year old boy by the name of Jared Padgett shot a 14-year old classmate before shooting himself in the head, the way he used to play video games. Padgett always played as a first-person shooter, a factor that influenced him to engage in school shooting. All these perpetrators of crime were psychologically disturbed by the violent media. That is, their way of thinking was impaired by the active engagement in violent games. Based on these incidents, one can conclude that exposure to media violence makes many young people practice real-world violence.

Promotion of Ethnicity through Violent Media

Similarly, violent media promotes ethnicity that is prevalent in the world today. According to Prescott, Sargent, and Hull (1), video game violence effects are a strong advocate of the practiced ethnicity and culture. The assertion is supported by the high incidence of these effects in Western cultures when compared with Eastern cultures. In their study, they learned that interaction with video games caused many people from the West to develop aggressive behaviors more than those from Asia (Prescott, Sargent, and Hull 2). The same findings were also noted in Gao et al.’s (2) study. According to these researchers, most games present blacks as inferior characters that deserve to die due to poor treatment from white characters. For instance, they indicate that the black characters are the ones who play bad roles. Unfortunately, such roles make other members of society have negative perceptions about blacks, leading to their oppression by other races. The argument is well demonstrated by the treatment of blacks in the US and other developed countries. The media violence has influenced young people to believe that blacks are inferior persons, as well as black persons, to conclude that whites are evil as they subject them to suffering and oppression like the way it is presented in movies and video games.

The Transmission of Violence from Media to Society

Violence in television as well as films is passed on to the people. The violent content in these media is excessively high due to the increasing demand. For instance, in the US, children spend approximately four hours every day watching television. The time allocated to the television contents triggers a rise in violent together with aggressive behavior (Huesmann and Taylor 2006). In support of this assertion, Huesmann and Taylor conducted a study and learned that most children behaved aggressively immediately after watching violent behavior on TV or movies. The same results were also demonstrated by adults who watch violent clips. According to Huesmann and Taylor (2006), adults who spend their time watching violent clips behave more aggressively than individuals who watch nonviolent clips. Based on their findings, Huesmann and Taylor (2006) concluded that the view of violent content on the media triggers changes in behavior. Likewise, one can argue that obsession with video games and mass shootings in movies contribute to the passage of violence from the media to the people. Individuals such as the gunman who shot dead 9 people in Munich, Germany, on 22nd July 2016, and Anders Breivik inherited their violent behaviors from the violent media (Phillips 2). That is, these individuals practiced what they learned through playing video games and watching mass shooting in movies.

Evidence Contradicting the Direct Influence of Media Violence on Crimes

Some studies, however, show that media violence does not contribute to violent crimes by itself. For instance, Phillips (6) asserts that exclusive exposure to violent media will not influence a child without other risk factors to become a criminal or a mass shooter. According to Phillip, the extreme violence associated with media violence can only occur when a person is exposed to other risk factors for a long duration and adequate space. Similarly, Phillips (6) asserts that there is no direct association between criminal behavior and exposure to violent media. He argues that a person exposed to such media can become aggressive without developing a criminal behavior. In fact, he asserts that some meta-analysis studies on the correlation of media violence and purported criminal aggression demonstrate that there is insignificant evidence to back the assertion (Phillips 6). Regarding gun violence, Phillips learned that the occurrence of gun violence in media does not correlate with the real violence in the world. According to him, the inclusion of violent content in movies has increased significantly over the past years whereas the world has experienced a significant drop rate in the occurrence of violence (Phillips 6). Similarly, Phillips analyzed the films produced between 1995 and 2004 and noted significant drop in violent crimes with violent movie attendance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the increased use of media has led to the rise in the embracement of media violence. Currently, many children and adults spend a considerable amount of time watching violent actions and behaviors. Although some studies indicate that exposure to media violence does contribute to the occurrence of real violence, it is evident that the world has experienced a rise in the number of crimes as people become more aggressive due to the content they ingest from the violent media. The increasing number of school shootings is attributed to the exposure to violent media. Many people practice what they see in movies in real life. Exposure to violent content in the media is also associated with a rise in anxiety and aggressive behaviors in people. Likewise, violent media promotes the practice of ethnicity and racism in the real world. Many people advance what they view in films and play in video games in society. However, human violence can be regulated by exposing people to prosocial media. That is, an increase in prosocial media will reduce the exposure of individuals to violent media, which is believed to contribute to real violence.

Works Cited

Gao, Xuemei, Weng Lei, Zhou Yuhong, and Yu Hongling. The Influence of Empathy and      Morality of Violent Video Game Characters on Gamers’ Aggression. Frontiers in         Psychology, 2017. 

Glynn, John. Guns and Games: The Relationship between Violent Video Games and Gun Crimes     in America. Arts and Social Sciences Journal, 2016.

Huesmann, Rowell and Taylor Laramie. The role of media violence in violent behavior. Annual            Reviews, 2006.

IOWA State University. Cross-cultural study strengthens link between media violence,             aggressive behavior. Science Daily, 2017.

Phillips, Nickie. Violence, Media Effects, and Criminology. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of          Criminology, 2017.

Prescott, Anna, Sargent James, and Hull Jay. Metaanalysis of the relationship between violent             video game play and physical aggression over time. PNAS, 2018.

Strasburger, Victor and Donnerstein Ed. The New Media of Violent Video Games: Yet Same   Old Media Problems? Clinical Pediatrics, 2013.