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Boundary Testing
Boundary testing refers to the power that media users have to explore the limits of social acceptability. Media forms that are based in representation can provide opportunities for the transgression of sociocultural boundaries in a controlled manner, which advocates see as a healthy form of release. Critics of media violence interpret these interactions as harmful to the media user, particularly if the user is a young person. This entry provides a brief overview of boundary testing as related to historical and contemporary media forms, summarizing positions related to liberatory media practices and media violence.
Moral Panic and Boundary Testing
Boundary testing has its historical roots in the various familial and social structures that are found across culture and geographic location. To better understand how boundary testing relates to media violence, it is necessary to explore the notion of moral panic as it relates to media use. Moral panic refers to the dangers associated with actions or behaviors that a society deems inappropriate or immoral. It is common to find historical examples of moral panic intertwined with media use; Plato’s fear that the printed word would lead to the destruction of memory and the corruption of youth is an early example.
More recently, one can find examples of moral panic in the popular acceptance of comic books in the 1950s, and the concern over violent video games at the end of the 20th century. Seduction of the Innocents, published in 1954 by psychologist Frederic Werthem, summarized the fear associated with the new popular comic book medium, setting into motion U.S. Senate hearings on comic books and juvenile delinquency and spawning the Comics Code Authority. Video games such as the Grand Theft Auto series brought the potential dangers of racist, sexist, and violent content to public attention. The ban on the sale of video games that had been labeled as violent was argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011. The voluntary labeling system, similar to the Comics Code, was put into place by video game manufacturers. However, the Supreme Court found that video game sellers could not ban the sale of such products because such a ban represented an infringement upon the First Amendment right to free speech. Boundary testing can be seen in the popular acceptance of comic books and video games. As discussed, the acceptance of media forms by young people is often accompanied by controversy.
Age and Boundary Testing
The moral panics of comic books and video games are closely associated with the age of the media user. Boundary testing is a common occurrence in the development of the child. Most theories of child development address the challenges to the early boundaries that children encounter. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget developed his stage theory based on the actions of the child upon genetic factors and within the milieu of the family structure. The child in stage theory encounters boundaries, in the form of schema, and in the act of engagement creates new knowledge in the process. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed his theory of child development, known as the zone of proximal development, around the idea that young people learn from those who are more experienced. Learning takes place in the situations when young people are challenged to develop novel responses to new experiences.
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- General Aggression
- Aggression and Affect
- Aggression and Anger
- Aggression and Attachment
- Aggression and Brain Functioning
- Aggression and Culture
- Aggression in Youth
- Aggression, Definition and Assessment of
- Aggression, Risk Factors for
- Aggressive Behavior
- Aggressive Personality
- Bullying, Definition and Laws of
- Cognition: Schemas and Scripts
- Cognitive Psychology of Violence
- Cognitive Script Theory and the Dynamics of Cognitive Scripting
- Cyberbullying, Definition and Effects of
- Gender and Aggression
- Genetics of Aggressive Behavior
- Group Aggression
- Memory and Violence
- Priming Theory
- Psychobiology of Violence
- Psychopathology and Susceptibility to Violence
- Reasons for Consuming Violent Entertainment
- Relational Aggression
- Trait Aggression
- Media Content
- Grand Theft Auto
- Advertising, Violent Content in
- Arousal and Aggressive Content, Theory and Psychology of
- Character Development Within Violent Content
- Competition, Sports, and Video Games
- Cultivating Content and Social Representation of Violence
- Cyberbullying, Violent Content in
- Drench Hypothesis
- Fantasy Genre, Violence and Aggression in
- Films, Representation of Violence and Its Effects in
- Media Violence, Definitions and Context of
- Music Videos and Lyrics, Violent Content in
- National Television Violence Study
- Pornography, Violent Content in
- Realism of Violence Content, Real-World Violence on Television, and Their Effects
- Sexualized Aggression
- Sports, Violence and Aggression in
- Stereotyping in Violent Media Content
- Television Violence
- Violence, Definition of
- Violent Artistic Expression
- Virtual Reality, Violent Content in
- Media Effects
- Attitude, Effects of Media Violence on
- Audience Interpretation of Media Violence, Effects of
- Bobo Doll Studies
- Comedic Violence, Effects of
- Demographic Effects
- Desensitization Effects on Society
- Developmental Effects
- Effect Size in Media Violence, Research and Effects of
- Effects From Violent Content, Short- and Long-Term
- Effects of Media Violence on Relational Aggression
- Emergent Public Health Issue: Effects of Violence
- Ethical Development, Effects on
- Ethical Issues in Researching Media Violence Effects
- Fear Reactions to Violent Content
- First-Person Perspective, Violent Content From
- Gender, Effects of Violent Content on
- General Aggression Model
- Identity, Media Violence and Its Effects on
- Interactive Media, Aggressive Outcomes of
- Internet Content, Effects of Violent
- Media Effects Perspectives of Violence
- Media Rating Systems
- Moral Development, Effects of Media Violence on
- Narrative, Effects of Violent
- News, the Presentation and Effects of Violent Content in
- Parasocial Relationships
- Pediatricians and Media Violence
- Peer Influence on Violent Content Effects
- Pornography, Violent Content in: Effects of
- Rap Lyrics, Effects of Violent Content in
- Rape Perceptions
- Screen Size and Violent Content, Effects of
- Sex in Media, Effects on Society
- Situational Influences on Aggressive Reactions to Media Violence
- Social Isolation
- Socialization of Violence in Media and Its Effects
- User Involvement in Violent Content, Effects of
- User Trends Toward Aggressive Games
- Uses and Gratifications Perspective of Media Effects
- Video Game Platforms, Effects of
- Video Games, User Motivation
- Violence in Media, Effects on Aggression and Violent Crime
- Virtual Reality, Effects of Violent Content in
- Weapons in Violent Media Content: Use, Policy, and Effects
- Media Policy
- Advertising Laws Regarding Violent and Aggressive Content
- Bullying, Definition and Laws of
- Censorship of Violent Content
- Cyberbullying Laws
- Federal Communications Commission
- First Amendment Protections and Freedom of Expression
- International Perspective on Media Violence
- Internet Blocking
- Internet Violence Laws
- Legislating Media Violence: Law and Policy
- Marketing of Violence
- Media Education and Media Literacy
- Rating Systems, Film
- Rating Systems, Television
- Rating Systems, Video Games
- Regulating Systems, Internet
- Video Game Industry, Regulation Within the
- Research Process
- Society and Media
- Grand Theft Auto, Social Representations in
- Advertising, Influence on Society
- African Americans in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Asians in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Cross-Cultural Perspectives
- Cultivating Content and Social Representation of Violence
- Cultural Voyeurism
- Culture of Violence
- Effect Size in Media Violence, Research and Effects of
- Exposure to Violent Content, Effects on Child Development
- Gender Stereotypes, Societal Influence on
- Internet Violence, Influence on Society
- Latinos in Media, Character Depictions and Social Representation of
- Media as a Reflection of Society
- Race-Based Attributes in Video Games, Influence on Hostility
- Social Learning From Media
- Theories of Media Influence
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