https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sylvie_Mrug/publication/272422326_Emotional_Desensitization_to_Violence_Contributes_to_Adolescents_Violent_Behavior/links/55cd092008aeeaab209b4ec7.pdf
In our analysis of learning, we have come to understand that habituation and conditioning can really alter our behaviors. In theory, desensitization to violence represents a form of habituation, and results in a diminished response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.[1] The results of a study published last year, by the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, suggests that while emotional desensitization to violence in early adolescence contributes to serious violence in late adolescence, the long-term consequences of such desensitization are actually unknown.
In referencing several other lab-based experiments, exposure to violent movies and video games in college students, has led to increased depressive and anxiety symptoms that diminished with repeated exposure. For instance, viewing of violent movies led to increased depressive and anxiety symptoms that diminished with repeated exposure[2], as well as less empathy and sympathy for the depicted victims[3]. Further, it was revealed in a meta-analysis of 136 studies that exposure to violent video games also contributes to decreased empathy[4].
I found it fascinating however, that despite these findings, it is unclear if desensitization would occur at equal levels of real-life violence simply due to exposure to films and games. The study also suggested that alternative explanations to real life violence are more correlated to quality of interpersonal relationships, academic and occupational outcomes.
[1] Rankin, C. H., Abrams, T., Barry, R. J., Bhatnagar, S., Clayton, D. F., Colombo, J., Coppola, G., Geyer, M. A., Glanzman, D. L., Marsland, S., McSweeney, F. K., Wilson, D. A., Wu, C. F., & Thompson, R. F. (2009). Habituation revisited: an updated and revised description of the behavioral characteristics of habituation. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 92, 135–138.
[2] Linz, D. G., Donnerstein, E., & Penrod, S. (1988). Effects of long-term exposure to violent and sexually degrading depictions of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(5), 758–68.
[3] Fanti, K. A., & Avraamides, M. N. (2011). Desensitization to media violence. In M. Paludi (Ed.), The psychology of teen violence and victimization (pp. 121–133). Santa Barbara: Praeger.
[4] Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B. J., Sakamoto, A., & Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 151– 173.
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