The effect of violent media on people, especially children and adolescents, is that they are less likely to understand what is good or bad for them. Mass media has a way of controlling some aspects of media content. What is rendered the most important factor in the history of media is the differentiation of the present and the past. According to George Gerbner violent televisions have some impacts on television viewers as it involves some complex interrelations between policies, politics, research, commercial interest as well as public advocacy issues. Following some research, Gerbner has found out that violence presented by entertainment on out television programs have some negative effects on the viewers, who after watching the violent programs end up adopting some attitudes and behaviors consistent with what is presented in the TV films.
Other than the negative impacts created by violent programs on TV as observed by Gerbner, there are other possible cultivation effects that may arise from the same consistent view of the modern programs such as the Bold and the Beautiful, Lost, In the Name of Love and many other television series as seen in the present society. The first possible cultivation effect may lead to more sexual desires, emerging from the sexual contents in the programs. After some studies on the youth and TV programs, Miller (2005) found out that some programs with high sexual overtones had increased sexual desires among the viewers, particularly adolescents, whose behaviors towards sexual needs increased exponentially after watching the programs. The behavioral factors on sex were therefore found to reduce after withdrawal from watching such programs. The overall implication is fully set on the psychological mind of the people watching the specified programs, thus calling for some restrain from those who air the programs. Coupled with personal experiences, it has been revealed that the motivation to constantly view programs with sexual overtones on television has some long term sexual desires among the viewers. The motivation to view such programs will consistently lead to increased attention level towards romantic films, which also acts as motivators to practically exercise them. Heavy exposure to romantic television programs has general impact on the viewers’ value system. According to Cantor (1998), this form of second-order beliefs has been entrenched among the people glued to such programs, thus exposing them to the possibility of fixed beliefs and transformed behaviors. In fact, it has been revealed that social media behaviors change among the viewers of such erotic films, thus entrenching the belief that it leads to immorality (Bandura, 1986). In this regard, television viewing has been considered a magnifying factor towards sexual conducts between individuals, thus exposing them to more erotic views presented in the television programs. At the same time, the impact has been extended towards other observers, who believe that American society is a goodwill ambassador of immorality, ostensibly after watching the specific programs on American televisions. In Cantor’s views, the rest of the world view of America changes as they watch more and more programs with heavy sexual overtones presented in their screens, thus transforming the cultural belief that immorality is not considered a serious offence in the American society (Cantor, 1998). For instance, Morgan (2009) found out that heavy romantic television series viewing was associated with the exaggerated belief that Americans took sex casually than any other society, depicting an immoral society.
To emphasize on the issue, some studies have also suggested that school and college students normally have personality change as they get more exposed to the erotic programs on their home televisions. In Morgan (2009) views, it’s personality that is shaped by consistent or habitual cognitions of the mindset. It’s a hierarchical behaviors set by individuals ways thinking after watching the erotic television series aired in their TV sets. The more the person watches these programs, the more the patterns of thoughts and feelings change towards putting into practice what s/he has watched. Miller (2005) justifies this notion when he states that despite the fact that personality traits endure overtime and presumed to be genetically-oriented, environment has a general impact on the perception change on any social behaviors. The role of environment in shaping the behaviors and personality of an individual may be seen in light of personal behaviors overtime. In fact, there are three broadened categories of personality dimensions, namely: neurotic behaviors, psychotic behaviors and extraversion. When one consistently watches a television series with romantic overtones such as the Bold and the Beautiful, s/he is likely to be affected emotionally if a scene in the program directly reflects a similar situation in their personal life. This may ultimately lead to anxiety, tension, and emotional instability within the individual, thus reinforcing the sexual behaviors depicted by the scene.
Conclusion
Several studies have revealed that TV do affects viewers’ perception on various behaviors in the social scene. Although earlier researchers had dwelt on violent behavioral conducts that is perpetuated by the violent TV programs, it has emerged that several other cultivation effects may be exposed in other effects. To put emphasis on the issue, it has been revealed that the situation is heightened when the viewer relate such cultivation effect with his or personal experience or life, or what happens in his personal life at that particular time. Moreover, when TV acts the primary source of entertainment, the prediction is that it will generate a lot of influence on the perception about the theme. Sexual overtones or romantic scenes in certain television series may be the source of perception change. This is particularly effective among the youth, whose emotions are still fragile to withstand any form of explicit conducts or scenes.