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Observational learning theory paper
Effects of media in our lives
Effects of media in our lives
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The Effects of Media on Anti-Social Behavior“
The media are a form of mass communication, with the internet, radio,
television, newspaper and advertising surrounding us, and therefore
the media is increasingly blamed for violence in our society.
Programmes such as wrestling and computer a game are blamed for
aggression in playgrounds and films such as “Childs Play” have been
blamed for murders such as that of James Bulger. The argument is
whether media are positive and negative in influencing violence.
There are several explanations of media influences on anti-social
behaviour, one being that of desensitisation. This argument assumes
that, under normal conditions, worry about violence reduces its use.
Media may, however, inspire aggressive behaviour by desensitising
children to the effects of violence. The more televised violence a
child watches, the more acceptable aggressive behaviour becomes for
that child. Frequent viewing of television violence may cause
children to be less anxious about violence. Therefore those who
become desensitised to violence may perceive it as “normal” and be
more likely to engage in violence them selves. The desensitisation
hypothesis claims that excessive media violence diminishes the disgust
with which we normally view violence and makes us more relaxed about
its consequences. However research lacks in support of this claim and
some research even shows a complete opposite. Goldstein, for example,
found that immediately after seeing a violent film, men were more
concerned about murder, and more punitive towards those who commit
murder. This finding was confirmed across four different countries
and therefore showed no support for the desensitisation hypothesis.
Therefore as evidence lacks in supporting the desensitisation
hypothesis it does not support the debate that the media has an effect
on anti-social behaviour, showing that if media does have an influence
it is due to another factor or something completely separate to the
media.
Another explanation of media influence on antisocial behaviour is
observation learning. Bandura argues that television can shape the
forms that aggressive behaviour takes.
Representations of violence in the media (defined as through news, film, and television) throughout history have contributed to desensitization to violent actions.
According to John Davidson's essay Menace to Society, "three-quarters of Americans surveyed [are] convinced that movies, television and music spur young people to violence." While public opinion is strong, the results of research are divided on the effects of media violence on the youth in this country. Davidson wrote that most experts agree that some correlation between media violence and actual violent acts exists, yet the results are contradictory and researchers quibble about how the effects are to be measured (271). Moreover, Davidson is not convinced that the media is the sole problem of violence, or even a primary problem. He points out that other factors, such as "poverty, the easy accessibility of guns, domestic abuse, [and] social instability" may have a greater impact on a child becoming violent than the influence of the media (277). Even though other forces may be stronger, media violence does have some adverse effects on the members of society. If senseless violence on television and in movies had no effect, it would not be such a hotly debated topic. What type of effects and whom they affect are the most argued aspects of the discussion.
People have to suffer many difference social pressures so they need a way to relax the pressures. Watching violent films, images and playing violent games is a quick and easy way to relax their pressures; for this reason, there are more and more people like to see violent things from media, and as long as there is a demand for this violent information, the financial incentive for media companies will be there. In general, media violence can affects people in three different ways. The first one is leading people to solve their problem through violent means. People always can see many incidents of violence happening in media, and media always embellish the violent means to be a cool way to solve a problem. As time gone on, when they are put in bind in their social life, they will do the violence way to solve their problem. The second effect is imitation. Sometime people will copy the plots of what they like in media to make it happen. The third effect cause people having wrong perception of the world. Overmuch, media violence cause people believe violence is everywhere and lead them to do violent behaviors. Now, media is needful for people’s society; however, media is full of violence, many empirical studies have demonstrated that media violence indirectly instigates violent and aggressive behavior and aggressive thoughts. Media violence affects negative, and it cause many severe problem to people’s society.
Many psychologists have studied the effect of the media on an individual’s behavior and beliefs about the world. There have been over 1000 studies which confirm the link that violence portrayed through the media can influence the level of aggression in the behavioral patterns of children and adults (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). The observed effects include, increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior towards others, an increased fear of becoming a victim or target of aggressive behavior, becoming less sensitive to violence and victims of violent acts, and concurrently desiring to watch more violence on television and in real-life (A.A.P. 2001). According to John Murray of Kansas State University, there are three main avenues of effects: direct effects, desensitization, and the Mean World Syndrome (Murray, 1995, p. 10). The direct effects of observing violence on television include an increase in an individual’s level of aggressive behavior, and a tendency to develop favorable attitudes and values about using violence to solve conflicts and to get one’s way. As a result of exposure to violence in the media, the audience may become desensitized to violence, pain, and suffering both on television and in the world. The individual may also come to tolerate higher levels of aggression in society, in personal behavior, or in interpersonal interactions. The third effect is known as the Mean World Syndrome, which theorizes that as a result of the amount of violence seen on television and also the context and social perspective portrayed through the media, certain individuals develop a belief that the world is a bad and dangerous place, and begin to fear violence and victimization in real life (A.A.P. 2001).
Research Studies Relating to Media Influence on Pro and Anti Social Behaviour There have been many studies of TV violence and aggression - partly due because of the increasing amount of violence being shown on TV, and partly because of the increasing importance of TV in our day to day living. Media influence on pro-social behaviour. Hearold (1986) found that despite the relatively few studies that have been carried out on the media's pro-social influence compared to its antisocial influence, the influences observed have been larger and constant for both girls and boys. This is seen as being largely due to have an influence on viewers where antisocial messages are not. Research has shown that children imitate many figures of pro-social behaviour when exposed to models displaying these behaviors in the media.
The media and entertainment play a very crucial role in our perception of violence in society. Exposure to violence in the media, including television, movies, music, and video games helps us construct our own perspective on violence. According to Joel Best, his theory on random violence states that random violence and violence, in general, is patternless, pointless, and leads to the deterioration of society. Many examples can be given from national and international media coverage on various random violence acts. There are many sides to the debate about whether or not violence in the media affects us and how prevalent it is in our society. The focal discussion is the influence of violence on people through the mass media: movies, television,
In a research analysis of Media and Violence, studies show that “Although the typical effect size for exposure to violent media is relatively small ... this ‘small effect’ translates into significant consequences for society as a whole” (“Media and Violence: An Analysis of Current Research”, 2015). This states violent behaviors can come from the smallest variables, or clips from videos, which is why it is important for parents to control what their kids see, read, and watch, and limit the amount of violence exposure.
This is a blanket assumption based on an affect seen on a part of the brain that is not yet proven to control “desensitization.” Admittedly I am not a scientist, but I find it difficult to make the leap from “proven desensitization” to predicted future violence. Introduction The debate about media violence has been going on for hundreds of years. The newest form of media being scrutinized is video games. I will be taking you through this debate and sharing with you some things that you may find surprising.
To what extent does mass media cause anti-social, deviant or criminal behaviour? The media effect theory explains how the media affects society and how society affects the media. The media effects model attacks the problem backwards. This means that they start with the media and then try and make connections rather than starting with the offender and finding the root of the problem, another criticism is also linked into this where the model focuses on the individual rather than the society. A study carried out by Hagell and Newbury (1994) was where they interviewed 78 violent teenage offenders and then traced their behaviour back to media usage. They compared their date to a group of over 500 ‘ordinary’ school pupils of the same age. They found that the young offenders watched less television and video games than their counterparts and had little access to technology in the first place, therefore going against the model. (Theory.org.uk, 2014)
Kostas Fanti found that subjection to media violence over a short period of time can still cause desensitization. His experiment consisted of an ethnically diverse sample of 96 college students that had a varying range of hours spent watching tv over an average week. In this experiment, the students were asked to view segments of nine 2 minute violent or comedic scenes in random order with three minute breaks in between each scene. They were also asked to fill out a questionnaire before and after viewing each video clip. Each comedy clip was taken from different episodes of the series” Friends” and the violent scenes were taken from various movies. Movies used include: Elephant, Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, 48 Hours, and Soylent Green; each violent scene depicted either realism, emotional suffering, or physical trauma of victims (Fanti et al, 181). In the first few moments of the experiments, subjects reported that they did not enjoy the violent scenes much and expressed sympathy for the victims in the clips. After a prolonged subjection to these clips however, the participants’ reports were quite the contrary as participants began enjoying the violence portrayed and expressed less sympathy towards the victims in the clips. Fanti noted that there was a correlation between aggression and the level of enjoyment to scenes of violence. What this means is that the aggressive individuals in the sample seemed to enjoy the violent clips more than the less
On average an American child will see 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the age of 18 through the television. Thousands of studies from the 1950s to the present day have all suggested that viewing violent acts will increase violent behavior while only less than 20 have suggested otherwise (Boyse). As our children are exposed to these 16,000 murders and 200,000 violent acts one can only conclude that aggression, crime and violence can only increase in our younger generations from being exposed to the current media.
In an article written by Kevin D. Browne and Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis out of Lancet, dated 2/19/2005, Volume 365 in issue 9460, on page 702 a collection of research shows short-term effects increasing the likelihood of aggressive or fearful behavior in younger children, especially in boys. It also shows research stating that there is a very weak correlation directly between media violence and acted out aggression. This article basically states that violent media being watched by children does impression and arouse some, but does not associate strongly with violent acts. This would help explain the fact that millions of kids watch violent television shows and remain nonviolent.
The definition of mass media is “a means of communication that reaches large numbers of people in a short time, this can consist of the use of television, newspapers, magazine, and radio”, and within the last decade the internet as well. (HarperCollins) The media can actually be a minor or major effect on individuals depending on how or what their view is on the particular subject or matter. The effects it plays on individuals and societies will depend on the exposure to the subject matter at the time, but it effects all ages from young to old.
Television violence causes children and teenagers to be less caring, to lose their inhibitions, and to be less sensitive. In a study on the connection between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people (Kinnear 26). William Belson also discovered that every time a child viewed this violence on television, they lost a fragment of their inhibitions towards others (Kinnear 26). In addition to William Belson’s study, studies done by many scientists and doctors show that seeing violence on television causes viewers to become less sensitive to the pain of others (Mudore 1).
...onditions that ensure an adequate counterbalance increasing consumption in some cases, end up having a negative effect on children. Children learn best through demonstration followed by imitation, with rewards for doing things the right way. While not all are affected the same way, it can be said that, in general, violence in the media affects attitudes, values and behaviors of users. You run the risk that children end up understanding that it is reasonably practicable to resort to violence. The fear is that the models of aggressive behavior can be considered suitable. Thus, in an investigation, a good proportion of children (third) defined as normal acts of violence they had seen him mightily little. It is not; here is a risk of direct imitation, but rather a change in terms of reference: where extreme violence appears to be normal any more light may seem harmless.