Brewer (2011). Media violence. - Article summary

There is no consensus on the amount of media exposure of a person although it appears to be great in Western cultures. Violence is often defined as the overt expression of physical force. More than 60% of television programmes contain violence. However, it is not clear how violence is represented in television programmes, as the context, emphasis and frequency can differ.

Exposure to violent media increases the incidence of aggressive behaviour, although there is less evidence for an increase in criminal violence. However, this evidence comes from experimental settings and it is difficult to generalize this type of aggression to real-life.

Cross-sectional surveys demonstrate that exposure to violent television and movies are related to aggression. The relation between exposure to media violence and real-life aggression cannot be explained by aggressive individuals seeking out violent programmes.

Meta-analyses demonstrate that exposure to violent media increases the level of aggressive and anti-social behaviour.

There are several factors that may strengthen or weaken the impact of media violence:

1. Consequences
   The consequences of violence portrayed in the media may be an important factor, as violence that emphasizes the pain of the victim is difficult to ignore.
2. Realism and context
   The more realistic violence is, the more likely it is to be imitated or copied. This includes whether violence in the media is justified or not, as justified violence promotes aggressive responses.
3. Characteristics of the viewer
   The characteristics of the viewer influence the effect violent media has on the individual. Young children are more easily influenced by violent media due to their inability to distinguish between realism and fantasy and people who are more aggressive are more likely to be influenced by violent media.

There are several theories of media violence:

1. Social learning theory
   This theory states that aggression can be learned through direct (e.g. consequences of an aggressive act) and indirect experience (e.g. observation and imitation of aggressive behaviour). According to this theory, short-term effects occur when the viewer mimics the behaviour displayed on screen. Long-term effects occur when habitual, aggressive behaviour result from regular observation and imitation.
2. Scripts theory
   This theory states that people hold a wide range of cognitive scripts which guide behaviour and existing scripts are stored in memory but can continue to develop as the person observes new behaviour and expands their range of experience. Television can create new scripts and reinforce existing scripts, thus impacting development and maintenance aggressive behaviours.
3. Cultivation theory
   This theory states that the unrealistically frequent violent behaviour portrayed by the media can influence the way in which viewers perceive their own environment and this cumulative effect can be harmful. Frequent exposure to violent media leads people to become fearful of their own environment  
4. Desensitization
   This theory states that violence becomes less upsetting after prolonged periods of exposure, desensitizing violence for a person. This can lead a person to become desensitized to real-life violence and see it as an acceptable form of behaviour.

Indirect aggression is normally not used in research into media violence and might play an important role in the effect between media violence and behaviour. The exposure to violent pornography might also have a number of harmful effects. Viewing pornography is related to attitudes to rape victims.