The Impact of Media Violence on Human Morality
The word “mass media” is well-known to every person in the world. Nowadays we can’t imagine our life without TV shows, social networks, games, radio, and magazines. The media has become the most important part of lives of millions around the world.

The media is the main source of the formation and expression of public opinion. Of course, it has a lot of positive effects such as speedy communication, staying informed about the world, keeping in touch with friends, and increasing knowledge and skills. But also, it has the negative effects. The process of spreading information includes the propagation of the ideas associated with certain values, which push a person to behave in a particular way. That’s why media is called the “fourth branch of government” or the “fourth estate”. It not only reflects the reality but also creates it according to its own rules and laws. Thus, with the development of information, the media has a huge impact on various spheres of life of society, especially on human morality. Most of the social and moral values of people are formed in the image of what they hear and see. For example, violence and aggression have become a cult. The image of violence and information about it is everywhere. It increases the possibility that people will also behave aggressively. There are a lot of cases when people lose their minds and their behavior becomes immoral. Drug abuse, violence, addiction to the Internet, alcoholism, and suicides are the possible results of this impact. Therefore, media violence is the number one factor of real-life violence and aggression.
One of the most pressing problems of the XXI century has been and remains the negative impact of media violence, especially on children and teenagers. For instance, the massacre in the “Columbine” school was a prepared attack of senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold against other students and staff at the school. They were the fans of the popular violent game “Doom”. Moreover, they liked to listen to heavy metal music, such as Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, and Rammstein. The perpetrators injured 21 people, murdered 12 students and 1 teacher. After that, they committed suicide. It is one of the most terrible acts of domestic terrorism in American history. (YesHeIs, 2013). After this accident, people decided to focus their attention on the effects of media violence.
Nowadays, almost every single family has television and the internet. It has become a member of our families. Violent images are often shown in movies, music, and video games, and each of these images has a huge impact on human morality. More than 60% of TV shows contain violence. Moreover, parents don’t even really know what their children are watching, when their kids have a TV in their bedrooms. People spend no less than 4 hours using television and 6 hours online per day. Generally, they do not pay attention to the information that they get. American association of pediatricians claims that “by 18 years of age, the average young person will have viewed an estimated 200000 acts of violence on television alone. A recent analysis of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) ratings of video games revealed that more than half of all games are rated as containing violence, including more than 90% of games rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older” (Media Violence, 2009). People got used to seeing blood, murders, and guns. It is usual for them.
Nowadays people like to experience adrenaline and anger through watching violent videos and movies. They don’t need deep emotions and comprehension of a picture. The Pediatricians believe that “as teenagers increasingly use the Internet, they are exposed to violence there as well; a survey of more than 1500 10- to 15-year-olds revealed that 38% had been exposed to violent scenes on the Internet” (Media Violence, 2009).
“Cultivation theory” by George Gerbner explores the long-term impact of television on the audience. The more time people spend “living” in the world of television, the more the image of social reality will be distorted. Human beliefs of the world will be false. (Cultivation Theory, 2009).
Also, Gerbner believed that the main purpose of television is to encourage violence. And it is very easy for people to be exposed to the influence of television. Gerbner conducted an experiment to study the effect of media violence. There were three groups: people who watch TV two hours per day, two to four hours per day, and people who watch TV more than four hours per day. As a result, those who were watching TV rarely considered that the probability of becoming a victim is 1 to 100. People, who were addicted to the television, argued that the probability is 1 in 10. In fact, statistics shows that the probability of becoming a victim of crime is 1 to 10,000 (Cultivation Theory, 2009).
Furthermore, he claims that television addicts are much more afraid to trust people and to go outside at night than others. “Those with heavy viewing habits are suspicious of other people’s motives. They subscribe to statements that warn people to expect the worst” (Cultivation Theory, 2009).
According to George Gerbner , the TV differs from the other forms of mass media. It is not necessary to know grammar, without which it is impossible to read newspapers and books. In contrast to the movies, TV shows are free. Unlike radio, TV offers both audio and video. Unlike churches, cinemas, and theaters, TV does not force people to move. TV is the only one in the history of mass communication, with which people interact with their entire life — from the first to the last days.
Albert Bandura developed a “Social Learning Theory” which states that social learning is determined by the processes of modeling, observation, and imitation. He conducted an experiment to learn whether media violence that children observe forms their aggressive behavior. Bandura showed the children two different models of adult behavior: aggressive and non-aggressive. In the short video, a man was beating, throwing and kicking the Bobo doll. After watching the video, the children went to the room with the attractive toys, but they were not allowed to play with any of them. Then, the kids went to the room with the Bobo doll and “aggressive” toys, such as hammers, ropes, and weapons. Children were allowed to play 20 minutes in this room. (Social Learning Theory, 1977). Thus, the study results confirm most of the assumptions of Bandura. Children were imitating a model of adult behavior. In fact, it is true that people, especially children, can imitate aggressive behavior from the media violence. Bandura suggested to adults to be attentive to their behavior (Social Learning Theory, 1977).
In the book “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life” the authors discuss games with violence content. Games with elements of aggression have always existed, but now children play them often. From 211.5 million, 4% of gamers spend more than 40% of all life online (Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life,2000). They believe that violence solves all the problems while receiving pleasure and gaining the respect of others. It is suggested that “Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations. The active nature of the learning environment of the video game suggests that this medium is potentially more dangerous than the more heavily investigated TV and movie media.” (Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life,2000).
Dr. Jaspal Singh, the associate professor of Department of Commerce and Business Management at Guru Nanak Dev University, conducted a survey in which there were 520 participants. He studied the effect of television commercials. The majority of people claimed that television ads destroy moral, religious and social values and have a negative impact on behavior. 75% of television shows, movies, and music videos use alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. As Singh suggests, “It can also be said that TVCs abuse society by negatively influencing human behavior. Their adverse consequences are pervasive and can be seen in the form of degradation of women, shaping of negative sexual attitudes, consumer discontent, loss of confidence, purchase of goods against the will and better judgment of consumers and degradation of relationships in families” (Impact of Television Commercials on the Social and Moral Behavior of Indian Viewers, 2009).
For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that media violence is the result of real aggression in human life. Nowadays, people watch too many movies, listen to the music, and play different games with violent content. The mass media inculcate the passion for murder, violent crime, and insults, instead of kindness, love, and wisdom. In reality, there are a lot of cases with bad consequences. People become addicted to violence. They start to behave aggressively, threaten someone, injure other people, and even kill them or commit suicides. Of course, you can limit yourself in communication with the media, but a civilized man will not be able to get rid of the flow of information. It must be clear to all, both adults and the young generation. But it is possible to solve this problem. Firstly, it is necessary to limit the time of broadcasting scenes with violence. Secondly, you need to bring only useful information to your life: learn different information, understand it, and be aware of the consequences of its impact on the morality. You should not unconditionally trust everything. Human is a rational being, so use your brain and think about your moral values and human nature.
