Quote:
Originally posted by ARTelevision
Actually it has been researched sufficiently for it to be considered to have the effect of desensitizing us to violence.
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The research with which I am familiar on media effects and violence is weak. Most studies:
1) have unacceptably small sample sizes,
2) neglect to include female subjects,
3) do not include subjects of different age groups,
3) are unable to demonstrate an effect longer than a few hours,
4) are unable to demonstrate an effect at a magnitude that anyone should care, and
5) are unable to demonstrate an effect outside of the laboratory.
Because so many men and women are exposed to media violence every day and so few actually commit the violent acts that are causally attributed to media violence, I would guess that it's something about these individuals that's causing them to commit violent acts, rather than something about media violence.
That said, I don't discount media effects research entirely. I have seen some compelling theory and research on how media representations of women may affect the body images of girls. I've also seen compelling research on how media representations of women may affect married men's commitment to their long-term relationships and single men's likelihood of committing to a long-term relationship. (Media images of women may bias men toward pursuing short-term romantic relationships over long-term romantic relationships).