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Films such as Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994) and Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996) have become famous for their alleged associations with real violence. Politicians, the media and campaign groups apparently believe that these movies are a drag which produces serious side effects. Look at any discussion of these movies in the press and you will find a raging debate on violence in the mass media and violence in our society. There is a basis to this dominant discourse that can be understood by reference to social theories of risk. It is my thesis that risk theories can help us to understand the dynamic of the current debate on media violence. Risk analysis is concerned with invisible risks that are harmful to individual and global environments. The companies who manufacture products that are perceived to have risks refuse to claim responsibility for their actions and, instead, talk of 'acceptable risk levels'. Campaign groups, such as Greenpeace, argue that anecdotal evidence suggests there are no acceptable levels: they reveal the full extent of the real and potential side effects produced by these large industries. Pro-censorship groups and self-appointed moral watchdogs have utilized this dominant discourse to engineer a political debate that they hope will lead to the regulation of media violence. The entertainment industry is presented as a manufacturer of risks. They produce products, for example violent movies, which are perceived to contain side effects that are harmful to individuals and to social environments. The industry may talk of 'acceptable levels', but anecdotal evidence, such as the James Bulger case, suggests that media violence can lead to real violence in our society. Anti-violence campaign groups undertake their own research which claims to measure the side effects of television violence. The entertainment industry is asked to self-regulate, and legislation is called for. My argument is that the debate on media violence has become polarized. Independent researchers need to change the terms of reference in order to alter the dominant discourse surrounding risk theories and the mass media. What is more, researchers must recognize that the effects of watching films or television cannot be measured in the same way the effects of car pollution are measured. Watching films or television programmes is a complex and dynamic process that does not lend itself to scientific measurements. Thus, new methods of research must be utilized in order to break the circularity of the debate on violence and the mass media. One such method is to understand viewer response to risk, and perceptions of the dangers and rewards associated with risk-taking behaviour. John Adams' (1995), 'risk thermostat hypothesis' indicates that people have a propensity to take risks which varies from one individual to another. Recent qualitative research in audience response to media violence also suggests that that is the case. New research methods can seek to understand individual perceptions of risk-taking, and the cultural construction of risk, in relation to the mass media.

A number of studies have indicated that violent video gameplay is associated with higher levels of aggression, and desensitization to violent content contributes to this association. Utilizing a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, the current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate selective attention (N1 activation), cognitive control (N2 activation), and desensitization (P3 activation) as neurocognitive mechanisms potentially underlying the association between gameplay and subtypes of aggression. Results showed video game players and non-players differed significantly in brain activation when engaged with violent imagery. N1 and P3 amplitude moderated the association between gameplay and pleasure-oriented aggression. Follow-up analyses further revealed that individuals who play games for many hours and show large N1 activation (high selective attention) in the face of violence have small P3 activation (heightened desensitization). Thus, our results suggest that selective attention to violent content and subsequent desensitization effects moderate the association between video gameplay and aggression.

Holding back your punches when you are ready to explode takes self-control, but you cannot them hold back if you have already tired your self-control and you need to replenish it. This study investigated the effects of ego depletion, violent video games and glucose restoration on aggressive behavior. College students (N=179) were randomly assigned to complete a letter crossing task that either deplete or not their self-control and that they would receive an ostensible feedback. Then, they played either a violent or non-violent video game for 15 minutes. Afterwards, they drank lemonade that contained either sugar or artificial sweetener. After waiting for 8 minutes, they received their feedback and were given a chance to retaliate by giving chili powder to a cup of tomato juice. Results revealed that depleted participants were more aggressive than non-depleted participants. Thus, self-control practically helps people to hold back their punches and avoid social conflicts.

The media often portrays an inner city overcome with violence. This research investigates whether citizens are emotionally responsive to this attention, as well as the self protective measures they utilize based on where they reside. Because the press devotes so much of its media coverage to violence, the main hypothesis to be tested here is that the more one is exposed to the media, the more they will be fearful of crime. The demographic variables included in this survey will be as follows: age, gender, race, average household income, and level of education. The predictor variable is the amount of media consumed, with the dependent variable being one’s level of fear of violent victimization. Conclusions were drawn from data obtained from students attending a midsized urban university (N=134) in the Midwest in order to see what impact the media has on fear. The hypothesis that high media exposure would increase levels of fear and increase precautionary measure was unsupported. However, support was found for the hypothesis that respondents who were themselves a crime victim or knew the victim of a crime are more aware of the threat of victimization. Future researchers may want to operationalize media by other means such as specifying source of media and if this influences fear of crime.

This study tested the hypothesis that lifetime media violence consumption, recent media violence consumption, and exposure to a violent video clip would increase physiological pain tolerance. Participants were asked to self-report their lifetime and recent media consumption and were then exposed to a violent or non-violent video clip. Results revealed that lifetime media violence consumption as well as exposure to a violent video significantly increased pain tolerance. Implications are discussed.

This study sought to conceptualize moral mediation as a form of television mediation through the frameworks of social cognitive theory and moral developmental theory. Particularly, three types of moral mediation messages were examined for their immediate influence and parental influence on children’s post-viewing attitudes and moral reasoning of televised violence: judgment-only, consequence-based, and motive-based mediations. A survey of parents and an experiment with their children were conducted. Survey data from 216 parents of children in kindergarten to fifth grade, in conjunction with the data from the children in the experiment, were collected to explore the parental influence of moral mediation on children. It was found that parents who discuss consequences of violent behavior on TV to their children can reduce the children’s acceptable attitudes toward televised violence. The experiment, which included 201 children randomly assigned to conditions, revealed that all three types of moral mediation were conducive to the decrease of children’s positive attitudes toward televised violence. However, judgment-only mediation had the most effective immediate influence on children. As for consequence-based and motive-based mediation, they were more effective in encouraging children’s use of higher level moral reasoning strategies than judgment-only mediation. These findings suggest that moral mediation comprises at least three message types and are effective in their own way.

Adolescents in the United States today are among the population most at risk for experiencing violence. Adolescents also spend the vast majority of their free time engaged in media consumption, much of which includes increasingly violent content. Research has demonstrated that exposure to both real life and media violence is associated with increased hostility and aggressive behavior and decreased empathy. However, not all adolescents will be affected by violence exposure in the same way. Those who are exposed to personal and community violence, or who have a predisposition to aggressive behavior, may be more at risk for the negative effects of violence exposure. The present study explored the effects of real life and media violence exposure on two populations, 216 high school students (109 girls) and 96 adolescents (13 girls) detained in a juvenile detention center. Participants completed seven self-report instruments measuring exposure to real life and media violence, psychopathology, hostile attributions, aggression, empathy, and social desirability. Due to the differences in the samples, results were analyzed separately. Consistent with the hypotheses and the General Aggression Model, real life and media violence exposure was significantly associated with and significantly predicted increased aggression, increased hostile attributions, and decreased empathy for the high school student sample. Additionally, psychopathology was a significant mediating variable for the relationship between real life violence and aggression. For the detained adolescents, exposure to real life violence was positively associated with aggression and psychopathology, but was not significantly associated with hostile attributions or empathy. Media violence was not associated with aggression, hostile attributions, or empathy. These results are not consistent with the hypotheses and may reflect desensitization processes or differences in aggressive practices among this high risk sample. Results of this study suggest the need for further work in the areas of prevention and interventions for violence-exposed adolescents in order to reduce negative outcomes. Additionally, future research may wish to focus more attention on high risk individuals to better understand the process through which these adolescents react to violence exposure.