More Than Shoot-Em-Up and Torture Porn: Reflective Appropriation and Meaning-Making of Violent Media Content

Abstract

Media violence research has mainly focused on aggression effects so far. But are audiences' thoughts about violent portrayals actually confined to aggressive fantasies? This study examines more complex thought processes about violent portrayals that involve reflection, meaning-making, and truth-seeking about violence as a fact of social reality. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 39 participants from different backgrounds, including professions at risk for exposure to violence, media professionals, and interviewees from the general population. The interviews revealed three main categories of reflective thoughts about violent media content, including thoughts about (a) the truth value, (b) the life-world relevance, and (c) the psychological and moral implications of the violence depicted. Participants also discussed unrealistic content features that interfered with meaning-making.

The psychology of morbid curiosity: Development and initial validation of the morbid curiosity scale

“…For example, the desire for real-world knowledge has been found to be a motivating factor for engaging with violent media (Shaw, 2014;Bartsch et al, 2016). As noted by horror novelist…”

The enjoyment of shooting games: Exploring the role of perceived realism

“…In this study we only looked at hedonic or pleasurable outcomes of game play. A recent strand of research suggests that, given their increasing popularity, entertainment media such as digital games also have the responsibility to provide players with more meaningful and thoughtprovoking gratifications beyond mere enjoyment (Oliver et al, 2016;Rogers, Woolley, Sherrick, Bowman, & Oliver, 2017), even in the context of violent media content (Bartsch et al, 2016;Bartsch & Mares, 2014). Based on our results, and more specifically the observation that social and simulational realism are, in general, rated below average, we cannot conclude that shooting games currently have a strong emphasis on such 'eudaimonic' gratifications (Oliver & Raney, 2011).…”

“…Vorderer and colleagues (2004) define media enjoyment as an individual's positive response towards media technology and its content, a "pleasant" experiential state. The enjoyment of violent media content is paradoxical (Bartsch et al, 2016;Bartsch & Mares, 2014): for instance in shooting games, players enjoy engaging in activities, such as shooting and killing opponents, one would reject in the real world (Jansz, 2005). A body of research has been dedicated to unravel the antecedents of digital game enjoyment, and various factors such as control (Kim et al, 2015), competition (Caroux, Isbister, Le Bigot, & Vibert, 2015), and identification (Hefner, Klimmt, & Vorderer, 2007) are presumed to have an impact.…”

#Dark inspiration: Eudaimonic entertainment in extremist Instagram posts

“…Furthermore, graphic violence itself can spur meaning making. Bartsch et al (2016) found that the consumption of violent media can provoke reflections about meaning, morality, and authenticity. In a related vein, Grizzard et al (2017) found that consuming a graphical versus non-graphical version of a news story about executions by the self-declared "Islamic state" increased levels of anger and disgust in the audience which in turn predicted larger levels of moral sensitivity and eudaimonic motivations.…”