Parental Desensitization to Violence and Sex in Movies

Abstract

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Movie ratings designed to warn parents about violence and sexual content have permitted increasing amounts of each in popular films. One potential explanation for this "ratings creep" is parental desensitization to this content as it becomes more prevalent in movies. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This study adds experimental evidence that parents become desensitized to movie violence and sex and are more willing to allow children to view such content. abstract OBJECTIVES: To assess desensitization in parents' repeated exposure to violence and sex in movies. METHODS:A national US sample of 1000 parents living with at least 1 target child in 1 of 3 age groups (6 to 17 years old) viewed a random sequence of 3 pairs of short scenes with either violent or sexual content from popular movies that were unrestricted to youth audiences (rated PG-13 or unrated) or restricted to those under age 17 years without adult supervision (rated R). Parents indicated the minimum age they would consider appropriate to view each film. Predictors included order of presentation, parent and child characteristics, and parent movie viewing history. RESULTS:As exposure to successive clips progressed, parents supported younger ages of appropriate exposure, starting at age 16.9 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.8 to 17.0) for violence and age 17.2 years (95% CI, 17.0 to 17.4) for sex, and declining to age 13.9 years (95% CI, 13.7 to 14.1) for violence and 14.0 years (95% CI, 13.7 to 14.3) for sex. Parents also reported increasing willingness to allow their target child to view the movies as exposures progressed. Desensitization was observed across parent and child characteristics, violence toward both human and non-human victims, and movie rating. Those who frequently watched movies were more readily desensitized to violence. CONCLUSIONS:Parents become desensitized to both violence and sex in movies, which may contribute to the increasing acceptance of both types of content by both parents and the raters employed by the film industry. Pediatrics 2014;134:877-884

Parental Desensitization to Gun Violence in PG-13 Movies

“…Approximately 15% of those who started the survey were dropped from the analysis in both conditions either because of failure to qualify or to answer the quality control questions correctly. The sample was similar to a previous study of parents, 9 with the exception that this sample had a higher proportion of fathers, and the age distribution of parents and/or guardians tended to be somewhat older than occurs in the US population. 19 Clips can be viewed at https:// s3.…”

“…As in a previous study, 9 we recruited the sample of parents from Research Now, a firm that maintains a large representative online panel of US adults primarily for consumer research purposes. Panel members who were parents or guardians of children between the ages of 6 and 17 were invited to participate in a study to evaluate movies for their appropriateness of viewing by children.…”

“…6,7 Along with the increase in PG-13 violence, surveys also suggest that parents are becoming more accepting of violence in movies, 8 reflecting a form of desensitization to movie violence. 9 Given the long-standing evidence that heavy exposure to screen violence in children can lead to imitation, 10,11 increased parental acceptance of movie violence is cause for concern. One explanation for this desensitization is that these films typically omit the consequences of violence that might be upsetting to children, such as graphic displays of blood and suffering 12 that tend to receive R ratings.…”

“…One explanation for this desensitization is that these films typically omit the consequences of violence that might be upsetting to children, such as graphic displays of blood and suffering 12 that tend to receive R ratings. 7 As parents view more of these movies, they may become emotionally desensitized to the violence 9,13 and more accepting of its viewing by children.…”

The Continuing Rise of Gun Violence in PG-13 Movies, 1985 to 2015

“…The more parents watch these violent movies, the more they become desensitized to them and the less likely they are to prevent their children from watching them. 6 It is likely that children experience the same desensitizing effect. This is problematic because, as a recent policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics noted, 7 repeatedly viewing violent media content can influence some youth to become more aggressive.…”