disinhibition

• Disinhibition - normal social constraints against certain behaviours can be weakened by environmental triggers. These behaviours then appear temporarily socially acceptable and therefore more likely.
• Most people hold the view that violence and aggression are antisocial and harmful, therefore there are powerful social and psychological inhibitors against using aggression to solve interpersonal conflicts. Inhibitors are learned directly and indirectly through SLT.
• Inhibitors are loosened after exposure to violent media.
• Aggression is often made to appear normative and socially sanctioned in such media, especially if portrayals minimise the effects of violence on its victims and suggest it’s justified
• Video games often reward violence and its consequences are minimised or ignored. This creates new social norms for the viewer
• Berkowitz and Alioho demonstrated that when pps were exposed to media depicting violence as a form of vengeance, they were more likely to participate in longer acts of aggression (electric shocks) when there was a perceived justification for it. this supports disinhibition