Desensitization Effects

Desensitization is a process through which repeated exposure, without incident, to a stimulus that naturally evokes a powerful emotional response leads to a lessening of that response. That is, if a subject is repeatedly exposed to a stimulus, and if no negative outcome arises from the exposure, the subject's reaction to the exposure will eventually be lessened. The desensitization principle can be applied in a variety of ways, from helping arachnophobes overcome their fear of spiders to training soldiers to circumvent their natural aversion to killing.

An unintended and allegedly undesirable example of desensitization occurs when repeated exposure to violent media content causes audiences, especially children, to become desensitized or “numbed” to the notion of violence. Many people, including what appears to be the majority of social science researchers, assert that the desensitization effect is undesirable in this context because it can be associated with an increased likelihood that viewers of media violence will be more tolerant or accepting of real-life violence. There is also the belief that desensitized subjects may exhibit more violent attitudes or even more violent behavior than before the desensitization, although there is less agreement on this purported effect.

Researchers generally agree that the desensitization effect is real. There is also widespread consensus that children are more susceptible to the effect than adults. The classic study of desensitization in children, which has been repeated several times, shows that children who are shown violent media wait longer to respond when staged incidents of violence occur in their presence. Children who have not been the subjects of experimental desensitization treatments consistently respond more quickly and more profoundly when they witness violence.

However, being apathetic to violence and committing violence are two different things, and there is less agreement as to whether the desensitization effect causes violent behavior in children or anyone else. Critics fault experimental methods as artificial and invalid as predictors of real-life reactions. They also argue that other factors may explain what seems to be a case of cause and effect. For instance, people who enjoy violence or aggression, or who have higher tendencies to be violent or aggressive, may seek out violent media more than other people do. Therefore, it may not be the media or the desensitization effect that causes violent behavior, but rather the proclivity for violence that causes some to seek out violent media in greater proportion.

Causation is also the most difficult element to establish in pursuing support for various media effects theories. There is strong and widespread support for the notion that desensitization definitely occurs from the consumption of violent media. Somewhat more tenuous is the assertion that this desensitization causes children to be more violent. Some groups, however, including the American Psychiatric Association, do not hesitate to make that claim, asserting that desensitization does indeed lead directly to increases in violent behavior.