Narcotizing dysfunction is a theory that as mass media inundates people on a particular issue, they become apathetic to it, substituting knowledge for action.
[1] It is suggested that the vast supply of communication Americans receive may elicit only a superficial concern with the problems of society.
[2][3] The term narcotizing dysfunction was identified in the article "Mass Communication, Popular Taste and Organized Social Action", by Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and Robert K.
[8] The expression condenses three principles:the first supposition is that informational excess could lead to a tragic numbness and social detachment.
[8] one of the first media effects to be studied in some depth using functional analysis was the narcotizing dysfunction, the idea that as news about an issue inundates people, they become apathetic to it...