Media Induced Fear and Anxiety - Georgetown University: Web ...

CONCULSION
Considering that even those who directly experience traumatic events, such as
combat, do not all suffer psychosis or PTSD, it is comparable to say that certainly not all
those who watch television will acquire Gerbner’s mean world syndrome, and not all
those who suffer from the mean world syndrome are going to suffer from an anxiety
disorder. However, it seems reasonable to assume that the constant array of disturbing
images and warnings sent through the media is enough to invoke such responses in
some individuals. Depictions of real threats should evoke more fear than dramatic
portrayals of events that could never happen, since an elemental factor in the emotional
response to certain stimuli might arise from viewers’ anticipation of future
consequences to themselves. Moreover, depicted threatening agents that are considered
to be proximate or imminent should evoke more fear than remote threats. However,
threats that seem likely do not necessarily have to come from news content; it is quite
possible that entertainment media can also trigger reality-based fear responses. For
example, especially intense reactions to Jaws, a movie about shark attacks, were
observed in people who saw the movie while vacationing at the seashore. 70 This notion
brings us to the next chapter, which will briefly explore the effect of entertainment
media in relation to the arousal of anxiety.
NOTES
1 Leonard Downie Jr. and Rob Kaiser, The News About the News: American Journalism in
61