Media influences on aggression: desensitisation, disinhibition and cognitive priming Flashcards
Outline a key study into desensitisation as an influence on aggression.
A laboratory study was conducted and highlighted these desensitising effects. Participants were shown a feature film (Straw Dogs) which contains a prolonged and graphic scene of rape. Participants then watched a re-enactment of a rape trial. Compared with those who watched a non-sexually violent film, male viewers of straw dogs showed greater acceptance of rape myths and sexual aggression and expressed less sympathy to the rape victim in the trial, therefore, being less likely to find the defendant guilty.
Outline desensitisation as an influence on aggression in the context of violent media.
-Normally when we witness violent actions we experience physiological arousal associated with the sympathetic nervous system e.g an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, sweating etc.
-But when children repeatedly view aggression on TV or play violent computer games, they become habituated to its effects and so a stimulus (that is usually aversive) has a diminishing impact resulting in a reduction of anxiety and physiological arousal.
This desensitisation is psychological as well as physiological. Repeated exposure to violent media promotes a belief that using aggression as a method of resolving conflict is socially acceptable so negative attitudes towards violence weaken.
Outline disinhibition as an influence on aggression in the context of violent media.
-Most people generally hold the view that violence and aggression are antisocial and harmful.
-Consequently, there are powerful social and psychological inhibitions against using aggression to resolve interpersonal conflicts. These are learned via social learning theory.
According to disinhibition, these usual restraints are loosened after exposure to violent media. Aggressive behaviour is often made to appear normative and socially sanctioned in such media. It is not unusual for video games to show violence being rewarded to. This creates new social norms in the viewer.
Outline cognitive priming as an influence on aggression in the context of violent media.
Repeated viewing of aggressive media, especially game playing, can provide us with a script about how violent situations play out. This script is stored in memory and so we become ready or primed to be aggressive. The process is automatic and so the script is triggered when we encounter cues in a situation we perceive as aggressive.
