Webinar: The Psychology of Violent Television

What are the psychological motives that make watching violent television so appealing? In this webinar, Doctors Sheldon Solomon and Jonathan Bassett review psychological theories that explain why audiences are drawn to violent television and the impact violent television has on us.

Drawing on insights from both Separation Theory and Terror Management Theory, Solomon and Basset explain how our attraction to watching fictional violence is rooted in sensation seeking, a desire for mastery over perceived dangers, and a need to believe in a just world. They also offer a novel interpretation that views the need to manage existential anxiety as an important force underlying the consumption of violent TV.