Disinhibition

    Cards (6)

    • Exposure to violent media changes usual restraints
    • Most people believe violence and aggression are antisocial
      • so there’s strong social and psychological restraints against using aggression to resolve conflicts
      Violent media gives aggressive behaviour social approval
      • especially where effects on victims are minimised
      Usual restraints on individuals are loosened after exposure to violent media
    • What is disinhibition?
      The reduction or loss of inhibitions, leading to behavior that is more impulsive or uninhibited.
    • Disinhibition enhanced if aggression is rewarded
      • computer games often show violence being rewarded at the same time as its consequences are minimised or justified
      • These rewards strengthen new social norms in the viewer
    • Research support- A03

      Berkowitz and Alioto (1973)
      • found people who saw a film showing aggression as vengeance gave more shocks to a confederate
      Media violence may disinhibited aggression if presented as justified/ socially acceptable
      • E.g. vengeance
      Demonstrated the link between removal of social constraints and subsequent aggressive behaviour
    • Disinhibition can explain cartoon violence- A03
      Children don’t learn specific aggressive behaviours from cartoon models
      • e.g head spinning around
      They learn that agression is acceptable (socially normative)
      • especially if it’s unpunished
      So disinhibition explains how cartoon aggression can lead to aggression in those who observe it
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