*(11) Explanations of Media Influences on Aggression: Desensitisation, Disinhibition and Cognitive Priming

Theory 1: Desensitisation (BIOLOGICAL EFFECT)

when a person’s emotional response to a stimulus gets smaller with repeated exposure to the stimulus.

Desensitisation in the media

Violence in the media can lead to aggression through desensitisation, because with repeated exposure to violence in the media, people become less shocked by violence

This make them feel more comfortable being violent themselves

Desensitisation Study (AO3)

Krahe (2011): showed participants violent (and non-violent) film clips, while measuring physiological arousal using skin conductance tests.

Findings: pps who were habitual viewers of violent media showed lower levels of arousal when they watched the violent clips. They also reported higher levels of pleasant arousal and lower levels of anxious arousal.

Lower arousal in habitual violent media users reflects desensitisation to the effects of violence, and a greater willingness to be aggressive.

Theory 2: Disinhibition (SOCIAL EFFECT)

when people become less concerned about social norms that tell them not to behave aggressively

Disinhibition and the media

when people are exposed to violent media, they begin to feel like violence is more socially acceptable.

Disinhibition Study (AO3)

Berkowitz & Alioto (1973): found that participants who saw a film depicting aggression as vengeance gave more (fake) electric shocks of longer duration to a confederate.

This suggests that media violence may disinhibit aggressive behaviour when it is presented as justified (therefore socially acceptable).

Theory 3: Cognitive Priming (COGNITIVE EFFECT)

exposure to a stimulus makes thoughts and ideas related to that stimulus more accessible in our mind.

Cognitive Priming in video games

being exposed to lots of images of violence makes ideas and thoughts about violence more accessible in our mind

Cognitive Priming Study (AO3)

Bushman’s (2002) Karate Kid study.

Students viewed 15 minutes of aggression from the film Karate Kid 3.

A control group viewed an equally arousing non-violent film (Gorillas

in the Mist).

Each participant completed a 25 minute trial reaction time task against an imaginary opponent. Students who won could ‘punish’ their opponent by subjecting them to white noise and could select the punishment level (60-105 decibels).

Participants who watched the aggressive film clip delivered longer and higher intensity punishments than those in the non-violent condition.

This supports Cognitive Priming Theory.

AO3: Issue/Debate

These theories are hard determinist - they state after viewing or gaming aggressive media we WILL become aggressive.

Aggressive gaming is commonplace is today’s society, however the rates of real aggression remain low.

It is reasonable to believe that people are using their freewill to choose how to behave after watching/gaming, and only those people with underlying issues continue on to violent acts.

An interactionist approach between determinism and freewill may provide a more valid theory of media influences on aggression