A REPORT ON

Effect of Violent Movies in Youth

Prepared by
Anishwar
Chakrabory
[21BCE0829]

Submitted to
Dr. Preetha R.

NOVEMBER
2022

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 Acknowledgement

I express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those whose encouragement and
support helped me and who made this report possible and a memorable experience for
me. First and foremost, I wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to my Professor
Dr.Preetha R. for her constant support and encouragement, as well as for giving me an
opportunity to work on this report and whose valuable suggestions helped me in doing lot
of research and completing the report in the limited time frame. Under her guidance I
successfully dealt with many difficulties and learned a lot. She has regularly reviewed my
report and made corrections.
I would also take this opportunity to thank my fellow engineering
students for their support and cooperation without whom, this survey-based report would
not have been possible.

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 VIT UNIVERSITY VELLLORE

Certificate

Certified that this project report Effect of Violent Movies in

Youth is the bonafide work of Anishwar Chakraborty who carried
out the project work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE

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 Abstract
Movies are a vast canvas of emotions through which a person can express themselves. They
are an outlet of one’s feelings. Movies can simultaneously be upbeat, vibrant, inspiring,
upsetting, violent, and depressing. These movies can have a significant impact on a person,
especially the younger population who are easily impressionable. People base their
personalities and characteristic traits inspired from this media.
This report does an in-depth analysis of short term and long lasting behavioral and
psychological effects on young minds after consuming violent media. The study is aimed at
graduate and undergraduate university students. This report consists of the results of a
questionnaire distributed to students via an online survey. The results shows that movies play
an integral part in a person’s life, boosting their imagination and cognitive abilities. However,
unprecedent violence in movies can also have a negative effect on a person leading to
degrading mental health,
The main purpose of this study is to delve into the impact of consumption of violent media on
the young generation.

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 Table of Contents

Content Page Number

Cover Page 1

Acknowledgement 2

Certificate 3

Abstract 4

Introduction 6

Review of Literature 7

Objective of the Study 8

Methodology 9

Data Collection and Analysis 10

Discussion 11

Inference 17

Conclusion 18

References 19

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 Introduction

The value of movies in today's society is enormous. They have significantly

influenced our lives, attitudes, and activities throughout human history. They also play a
remarkable and crucial function in promoting societal presentations, viewpoints, and
universal beliefs. In this report, it is discussed how movies affects our way of life. The
biggest cultural influences on our society have been films and television shows. Additionally,
movies have traditionally been regarded as the most popular and engaging media.
In our current society movies, streaming platforms, video games etc. have the raised
the bar for immersion and engagement to its peak. People are bound to be engrossed and
emotionally invested in this media. They can dramatically alter our belief systems, social and
political views. Entertainment media can convey a vast array of information in a very limited
amount of time which can leave a long-lasting impression.
Violence in electronic media is as common as it is. Due to the widespread of social
media, more and more children and teenagers are exposed to violent media. According to a
poll, children aged 8 to 12 are exposed to entertainment media for an average of nearly six
hours a day, with more than 4.5 hours of screen time. 13- to 18-year-olds have far more
exposure: nearly nine hours of entertainment media and more than six and a half hours of
screen time
The National Television Violence report shows that 61% of TV shows contain some
violence. Only 4% of violent TV shows are antiviolence themed, or in other words, 96% of
all violent TV shows to simply entertain viewers by using violence as a narrative, and the
film’s method. There is a common belief that continuous consumption of violent media can
have negative effects on children and adolescents. This paper will focus on debunking
whether these claims are baseless or not by extensively analyzing the impact of consuming
violent media.

Statement of the problem

To monitor how the violence in movies affects teenagers' behavior and to examine how they
react to violent media.

Significance of the study

People tend to have different emotional reactions to movies. Sufficient research is necessary
to study the influence of electronic media on a person’s mental health and cognitive ability.

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 Literature Review
Cynthia Vinney published an article entitled “What Is the Impact of Violent Media on Mental
Health?” (June 2022) which infers that Childhood consumption of violent media when we are
not capable of critical thinking can make us violent and anti social as adults. There have been
studies that have followed people over decades and have shown that frequent exposure to
media violence in childhood results in adult aggression even if people no longer consume
violent media as adults.
Studies have also shown a rise in physical and verbal aggression after consumption of violent
media
Studies have demonstrated that there's a correlation between exposure to media violence and
increased anxiety leading to poor mental health.
But there’s a lot more nuance which comes into play and different factors such as personality
traits, environmental influences and context in which the violence is presented plays a heavy
role in a person’s development.

The article published by Gennady Knyazev titled “Intrasubject Synchronization of Late

Adolescent Brain Responses to Violent Movies: A Virtue-Ethics Approach” (November
2019) delves into the brain responses which are activated from consuming different kinds of
violent media. Some content provides morally ambiguous questions and aren’t completely
black and white and these kinds of media elicit critical thinking rather than violence.
There have been experiments conducted on participants where MRI scan results were taken
after they watched movies with gun violence.
Thought provoking questions activate our lateral cortex whereas unprecedented violence
activates our peripheral cortex which evokes negative emotions.

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania published an article

“Justified and unjustified movie violence evokes different brain responses” (2019) which
analysed that young adults are more accepting towards violence if it is justified.
However, it is unclear whether this will cause students to imitate such violence.

International Communication Association published a position paper “Violence in the Media

and Entertainment” (2013) which showed depictions of violence that are shown as
meaningful, moving and thought provoking can cultivate empathy among the people.

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 Objectives of the study
The primary objectives of this study are as follow:

1. To determine the media consumption habits of adolescents and young adults.

2. To find out how much the young population enjoys watching violent movies.

3. To compare differences in attitudes on aggression between those who watch “violent”

and those who watch “nonviolent” films.

4. To examine the attitudes toward aggression between individuals who watch television
heavily and those who don't.

5. To ascertain the link between attitudes toward aggressiveness and enjoyment of

violent movies.

Questions of the study

Researchers now have a good opportunity to carry out additional research on how media
effect adolescents because of the accessibility of electronic media and the rise in customer
consumption. In any study project, it's critical to look at a few unique questions. The
following research inquiries would be considered in this study:

1. To what extent do movies interest students?

2. What kind of content is considered inappropriate in movies?

3. How easily can movies influence children?

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 Methodology

For this survey-based report, undergraduate engineering students from Vellore Institute of
Technology, Vellore were chosen for the study. Questionnaire method was used to collect the
data for the collecting the responses of the students.

The students, whose ages ranged from 17 to 24, were questioned.

Being part of the targeted demographic, these students were best suited to answer the
questionnaire based on the topic “Effect of Violent Movies in Youth”.
The period of study was November 2022. A sample of 62 students at the institute were
chosen for the survey-based report, and they were asked to answer a questionnaire based
on the above-mentioned topic andthe data collected in the form of responses were analyzed
in the form of pie chart graphs. Pie charts were used to get the exact percentage of each
type of answer. This helped in efficient compilation of the data.

The questionnaire contains a total of 15 questions out of which 9 were multiple choice type
questions and 6 were yes or no type questions.

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 Data Collection and Analysis

Frequency of movies watched

The results revealed that adolescent boys watch from 0 to 7 movies per week, with an
average value of 2.91. In addition, they watch from 0 to 5 series per week, with an average of
3.06.

Movies Preferred
Nowadays, users have several media options accessible more than ever. The demand for fresh
and exciting sources of entertainment has reached an all time high. In media viewing habit
part we had a question regarding movies genres which have allowed the students to specify
their genre preferences. The results revealed that “action” movies had the highest preference
with “thrillers” being a close second.

Affection toward Movie Violence

The average score responses in these results demonstrate a strong preference for violent
movies. Numerous studies have shown that the threat of or exposure to violence consistently
increases sympathetic activation, which in turn raises the viewer's heart rate and blood
pressure.

Attitudes Concerning Aggression

These findings suggest that the typical respondent views aggressiveness as both legitimate
and acceptable if it is justified. Additionally, this outcome indicates that a typical respondent
demonstrates strong agreement with the viewpoint that people shouldn't actively engage into
conflicts.

Relationship between Affection toward Violence and Attitudes Concerning Aggression

The analysis showed that students who had greater affection toward violence in movies also
exhibited to have greater tendency of high attitudes concerning aggression.

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 Discussion

1)

The survey was conducted on students from different backgrounds and age groups, each with
their specific set of preferences.
29% of the respondents preferred movies which focused on action with thriller movies
coming at a close second with 24.2%.
Majority of people prefer fast paced movies which are generally more stimulating and
engaging.

2)

46.8% of the respondents were particularly interested in movies containing violence and gore
and actively enjoy media which portray such scenes.
41.9% of the respondents didn’t have any preference and were indifferent towards violence
and gore.
Only 11.3% of the respondents were disgusted by violence and gore and would actively stay
away from movies which contain gore.
The survey shows that majority of the youth have a strong preference for violence and this
affinity for violence could eventually affect their behaviour and actions.

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3)

46.8% of the respondents have had long term effects from movies they watched in their
childhood whereas 30.6% did not have any effects or memories from watching movies in
their childhood. 22.6% of the respondents couldn’t recall or had no weren’t sure.

4)

46.8% of the respondents did not have any specific preferences for violent movies when they
were in school, 32.3% actively searched for violent movies whereas 21% stayed away from
violent movies. Majority of the school students seem to watch movies they occasionally come
across rather than specifically searching for a particular genre of movies.

5)

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56.7% respondents are fine with justifiable violence with sufficient context rather than
unnecessary violence. 19.4% respondents believe that any violence portrayed in movies is
unwarranted.

6)

According to the survey, 61.3% of the respondents believe that there has been a rise in violent
content from movie industries due to their popularity and increasing demand. 19.4% disagree
to this notion and believe that all genres of content is distributed equally.

7)

43.5% respondents believed that consuming violent content contributes to violent acts such as
murders and mass shootings whereas 40.3% are of the opinion that watching violent media
and performing violent acts are unrelated and cannot be linked together.

8)

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54.6% respondents believed that movies can portray inappropriate content including violent,
offensive and adult themes and hence children should be restricted from consuming such
media.
24.2% respondents believe that it is unnecessary to restrict children from watching movies.
21% believe that kids are not mentally capable of handling harsh imagery sometimes
portrayed in movies and hence should be kept away from them.
Movies can be a massive influence on a child since they are easily impressionable but can
also influence their growth and imagination. Majority believe that some regulation instead of
absolute restriction from movies is optimal for a child’s development.

9)

79% of the responses said that watching movies is an exciting experience. Since people can
be easily influenced by exciting entities, it proves that movies are a major contributor to one’s
behavior and actions.
14.5% feel a frightened emotional response from movies. Horror movies generally elicit this
response which can play a role in influencing a person’s behavior.

10)

66.1% of the respondents agree that a film’s character can influence a person’s lifestyle and
attitude. 27.4% however disagree and believe that a fictional character cannot influence a real
person.
Most of the survey takers believe that people can get emotionally invested and attached to
fictional characters. People tend to imitate characters they admire; thus, aggressive and
violent characters can instigate violent behavior in an individual who is emotionally invested
in such a character

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11)

58.1% respondents which is majority of the survey takers believe that violence in movies
does not influence a person to commit violent acts. 25.8% respondents are of the opinion that
violence in movies can occasionally elicit aggression. Aggression can be induced sometimes
based on the way violence is presented.
Few respondents believed that violence from movies can induce violent actions.

12)

41.9% survey takers would not want to watch a movie with unwarranted and unnecessary
violence which does not contribute anything to the plot.
25.8% however would not object to watching violence that is uncalled for.
This shows that people are mostly attracted to the plot and the presentation of violence in
movies rather than unprecedented violence.

13)

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46.8% of the respondents believe that violence is necessary in films only if it is required in
the plot and is entirely situational. 29% students find it necessary to include violence in
movies. 24.2% do not want violence to be portrayed in films.

14)

40.3% of the respondents don’t believe that violence is a better solution than a peaceful
approach.
30.6% agree to the notion but the majority find that violence entices more violence which
increases the problem rather than provide a solution.

15)

53.2% of the respondents have been emotionally influenced by movies and have felt strong
emotions from this media. This shows that majority of people consider movies to be an outlet
of emotions through which they understand and feel new emotions.

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 Inference
After thorough examination of the data and pie charts, it is true than movies or any
entertainment media plays a massive role in a person’s life and influences them mentally and
emotionally. This influence however is not entire positive neither is it entirely negative.

The younger generation may be drawn to the materialistic portrayal of money laundering,
drug usage, and sex trafficking as a quick method to get money. raising the likelihood that
they may become victims of all these businesses.

The studies showed that majority of the younger generation has an affection towards fast
paced action movies which stimulates aggressiveness. This may sometimes lead to the person
performing violent acts.

On average, more than 50% of the sample thinks that watching violent movies can bring out a
person's violent side. Most candidates think that the extraordinary levels of violence
represented in films are a primary or indirect cause of mass shootings.

We also learnt that even if the students enjoy violence, they don’t particularly enjoy
unprecedented and unwarranted violence. The enjoyment comes from relevance to the plot
and the story. Most people aren’t actively searching for unnecessary violent content.

From analysis it shows that majority of the youth believe that movies have the power to
change a person’s belief system, character traits for better or for worse of the society.

Thus, negative portrayal of anything may have long term negative effects on a person.
Movies like Forest Gump and Goodwill Hunting are classics which can be informative and
inspiring for the younger population however movies like Gangs of Wasseypur and John
Wick which glorify violence and abuse may encourage youths negatively.

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 Conclusion

Media violence enhances the chance of aggressive and violent behavior in both short-term
and long-term situations, according to research on violent television and cinema, video
games, and music. The effects are more pronounced for less severe kinds of violence than for
more severe ones.

Short-term exposure increases the chance of aggressive thoughts, feelings, and actions, both
physically and verbally. There is growing evidence from recent large-scale longitudinal
research that early exposure to violent media is associated with later aggressiveness, such as
physical assault and domestic violence.

Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and
cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate
observed behaviors.

Certain characteristics of viewers (e.g., identification with aggressive characters), social

environments (e.g., parental influences), and media content (e.g., attractiveness of the
perpetrator) can influence the degree to which media violence affects aggression.
This research also suggests some avenues for preventive intervention (e.g., parental
supervision, interpretation, and control of children's media use).

We have deduced from the research that movies have an impact on viewers both positively
and negatively. The audience is inspired to take part in specific socially beneficial acts, and
some viewers are even aspiring to become better versions of themselves. As with everything,
there are drawbacks. Some teenagers are influenced to engage in unethical behavior. Moving
forward, filmmakers should exercise greater responsibility and make quality films that have a
positive impact on children.

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 Referencing
[1] The MediaEval 2016 Emotional Impact of Movies Task
Dellandrea, Emmanuel 2016-11-22
[2] Smoking in movies and smoking initiation in adolescents: systematic review
and meta-analysis
Jo Leonardi-Bee1, PhD, Maryanne Nderi1, MPH, John Britton1, FRCP.
[3] The impact of emotions on the helpfulness of movie reviews
R. Ullaha, A. Zeba, W. Kima,b,
[4] ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF THE MEDIA
Stefano DellaVigna, Eliana La Ferrara
[5] Education through Movies: Improving teaching skills and fostering reflection among
students and teachers.
Blasco, Pablo Gonzalez, Scientific Director at SOBRAMFA- Brazilian Society of Family
Medicine.
Medical Education and Humanism
Moreto, Graziela, SOBRAMFA- Brazilian Society of Family Medicine. Medical Education
and
Humanism,
Blasco, Mariluz González, SOBRAMFA- Associate Professor.
Levites, Marcelo Rozenfeld, SOBRAMFA- Brazilian Society of Family Medicine. Medical
Education and Humanism,
Janaudis, Marco Aurelio, SOBRAMFA- Brazilian Society of Family Medicine. Medical
Educationand Humanism,
[6] Obesogenic Behavior and Weight-Based Stigma in Popular Children‟s Movies, 2012 to
2015
[7] Impact of Celebrity Personality on Buying Behavior of Teenagers
Piyush Arun Chavan
Dr. Sarang Shankar Bhola

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