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Psychological
explanations for
media influences
on anti-social
behaviour
- Observational learning and imitation,
Children observe the actions of media
models and may later imitate these
behaviours, especially if the violent
behaviour is successful in gaining the
models objectives
- Bandura's research supports the view that
children learn specific acts of aggression
and increased aggressiveness through
imitating models
- The two boys who murdered James Bulger
were said to be inspired by the video Child's
Play
- There is not a lot o supporting evidence for
this outside of Bandura's research with
specifically prepared videos
- Bandura's research supports the view that
children learn specific acts of aggression
and increased aggressiveness through
imitating models
- Cognitive Priming, Immediately after
a violent programme, the viewer is
primed to respond aggressively
because a network of memories
involving aggression is retrieved
- Josephson (1987) hockey players behaved more
aggressively after watching a violent video, the use of a
walkie-talie in the video also acted as a cue for
aggression
- Josephson (1987) hockey players behaved more
aggressively after watching a violent video, the use of a
walkie-talie in the video also acted as a cue for
aggression
- Desensitisation, Media violence may
stimulate aggressive behaviour by
desensitising children to the effects of
violence. The more televised violence a child
watches the more acceptable aggressive
behaviour becomes
- Cumberbatch argues that people might get
used to screen violence but this does not mean
a person will also get used to violence in the real
world
- Cumberbatch argues that people might get
used to screen violence but this does not mean
a person will also get used to violence in the real
world
- Lowered physiological arousal, The arousal
stimulated by viewing violence is unpleasant a
first but children who constantly view watch
violent television become used to it and their
emotional and physiological response declines
- Zillman suggested that the
excitation-transfer model suggests
that arousal creates a readiness to
aggress if there are appropriate
circumstances
- Feshbach and Singer believe that watching violence has
beneficial cathartic effect - arousal allows one release of
pent-up aggressive energies
- Large scale studies have found that there are
stronger desensitisation effects for males than
for females
- Zillman suggested that the
excitation-transfer model suggests
that arousal creates a readiness to
aggress if there are appropriate
circumstances
- Justification, violent behaviours on television may
provide a justification for a child's own violent behaviour,
or they may provide moral guidelines concerning what is
acceptable and unacceptable
- many tv programmes have mixed prosocial
and antisocial messages e.g good guys
behaving violently
- Liss and Reinhardt suggest that negative
effects of such programmes support the concept
of justification
- The use of aggression by prosocial
characters lends an aura of moral
justification
- many tv programmes have mixed prosocial
and antisocial messages e.g good guys
behaving violently