A recent news article has appeared about a study on violence in media and its effects. The basic idea is that if people see violence they become more aggressive and more like to commit aggressive behavior. I think I have an alternate theory which will provide for the experimental evidence but not have such a dire outcome. The key is in the definition of aggression. According to the paper “To most researchers, aggressive behavior refers to an act that is intended to injure or irritate another person.” To me the key here is the intent. If I tell you “Your tie is really ugly” then is that aggressive? It could be either. It could be a friendly jab or I may intend to hurt your feelings. The study makes the point that people can become desensitized to violence. I think that is probably true but it does not follow that I will become more aggressive, but what can happen is that my sense of what is aggressive can change. A person exposed to more verbal and physical violence may be more likely to give a person a jab to the shoulder or a verbal jab to their tie, but the intent is not to cause pain or damage.
This type of apparent increased aggression is not problematic because at its heart it does not come from malice. In this view it is unlikely that violent media would lead to extreme violence such as murder because it would require people to believe that murder is not painful or damaging. I doubt we will see people go up to their friends and shoot them in shoulder in playful friendly way like saying “hi”. The key is that people are not becoming more aggressive just the nature of actions that are aggressive change.
A good example of this process would be the changes in manners. To people from the Victorian age we would be considered rude and aggressive. But it is simply a cultural difference. They would take offense when none was intended.