Mean world syndrome
Proponents of the syndrome, coined by communications professor George Gerbner in the 1970s, assert that viewers who are exposed to violence-related content can experience increased fear, anxiety, pessimism, and a heightened state of alert in response to perceived threats.
The term mean world syndrome was coined by U.S. communications professor George Gerbner, whose life's work explored the effects of television on viewers, particularly violent media.
[5] In 1968, Gerbner established the Cultural Indicators Project (CIP), which was a pioneering analysis of the influence of television on people's attitudes and perceptions of the world.
"[8] In 1968, Gerbner conducted a survey to validate cultivation theory and his hypothesis that watching extensive TV affects the attitudes and beliefs of an individual toward the world.
[3] Furthermore, viewers who consumed television at a higher rate also believed that greater protection by law enforcement is needed and reported that most people "cannot be trusted" and are "just looking out for themselves".
The programming reinforces the worst fears and apprehensions and paranoia of people.In 1981, Gerbner took his findings and testified before a congressional subcommittee about the damage he believed violent media was inflicting on Americans, particularly children.
Since the 1970s, numerous studies have corroborated Gerbner's findings that moderate-to-heavy viewing of violence-related content on TV increased depression, fear, anxiety, anger, pessimism, post-traumatic stress, and substance use.
"[17] A study conducted in 2018 by researchers at the University of Oklahoma found that there is "good evidence establishing a relationship between disaster television viewing and various psychological outcomes.
Although it is too new to draw definitive conclusions, a growing body of literature suggests that social media can have similar psychological effects to that of television providing further support for Gerbner's theory.
[21] Jean Kim, a psychiatrist for the U.S. State Department, said that social media "is not as visceral as seeing an event on television…but if you're overly getting caught up in troll wars or controversy online, you might be getting a skewed view and be prone to being directly affected.
Gaining popularity on Twitter in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic, the term "doomscrolling" emerged to describe the act of excessively consuming negative content on social media.
