Current Events (2)

On the 17th of April,  researchers from the University of California have published their three-year Irvine Study on the topic: "Media exposure to mass violence can fuel cycle of distress."  It was issued in a peer-review journal Science Advances. The number of participants who took part in a study was approximately 40,000. During three years, scientists have asked participants survey questions, the number of times survey was conducted: four. The primary reason why researchers have done this is that they wanted to have evidence not only of one tragic event since feedbacks of violent content may differ from time to time. For example, the responses of participants after seeing violent content for first and for the second time were completely different. 

According to Irvine Study, frequent exposure to media footage that includes collective disasters, for instance, mass shootings and natural catastrophes, can trigger the cycle of distress. Moreover, some people can become "emotionally responsive to news reports of subsequent incidents, resulting in heightened anxiety and worry about future occurrences"(Harriman, 2019). Earlier, research has determined that viewing violent content in media is a normal reaction for some people who are looking for information as a way to soften their apprehension and deal with their stress. However, it can turn out in an opposite effect. Irvine Study showed that "repeated exposure to explicit content may exacerbate fear about future adversities, which promotes future media consumption and greater anxiety when they do occur" (Harriman, 2019). What is more, there is a risk of developing a cycle of distress for a group of people who have already experienced violence or have mental health sickness.

A group of researchers from the University in California assumed that large-scale consumption of watching violent footage such as terrorist attacks and hurricanes could bring out a process of distress. Roxane Kohen Silver adds to this assumption her personal opinion: "This pattern of behavior is linked to mental and physical health problems in the immediate aftermath as well as over time, even among people who were not directly involved." Therefore, violent content may trigger not only a cycle of distress but also deviant behavior in modern society.

References :

Harriman, P. (2019, April 17). Media exposure to mass violence can fuel a cycle of distress, 3-year longitudinal study shows. Retrieved from: https://news.uci.edu/2019/04/17/media-exposure-to-mass-violence-can-fuel-cycle-of-distress-3-year-longitudinal-study-shows/