Desensitisation

• What is desensitisation?

  The process of reducing sensitivity or responsiveness to a stimulus.
• Physiological Desensitisation = reduced physiological response/ SNS arousal
• Normally when we witness aggression we experience arousal associated with the SNS

  • increased heart rate, blood pressure and sweat

  But when children repeatedly view aggression on TV or play violent video games the physiological effects are reduced

  • a stimulus that is usually aversive has a lesser impact
• Psychological desensitisation


  Repeated exposure to violent media promotes a belief that aggression to resolve conflict is socially acceptable

  • negative attitued towards violence weaken
  • less empathy felt for victims
• Weisz and Earls (1995)

  • showed participants the film, Straw Dogs (contains graphic rape scene)
  • Males showed greated acceptance of rape myths after watching re-enacted rape trial, compared with male viewers of a non-violent film
  • Also showed less sympathy to victim and were less likely to find dependent guilty
• Research support-A03

  Krahe et al. (2011)

  • showed violent and non-violent films while measuring physiological arousal
  • habitual viewers of violent media showed lower arousal and gave louder bursts of white noise to a confederate without being provoked- proactive aggression

  This lower arousal in violent media users reflects desensitisation to the effects of violence and it was also linke to greater willingness to be aggressive
• Desensitisation can’t explain some aggression- A03

  Krahe et al.’s study didn’t link media viewing and arousal with provoked/ reactive aggression

  May be due to catharsis provided by violent media

  • Viewing violent media helps release aggressive impulses without violence

  So not all aggression is the result of desensitisation and alternative explanations may be more valid