Psychological Impact of Television

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PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF TELEVISION Television (TV) is one of the most pervasive, trendiest broadcasting media and time-consuming forms of modern technology with a multitude of positive and negative impact on our unique dynamic psychological perception of the society and the world at large. TV is used to promote commercial, social and political agendas, public service announcements (including those paid for by governing bodies or politicians), news and current affairs, television advertisement, advertorials and talk shows, which are used to influence public opinion. Authors like Brain Martin and Jerry Mander argue that TV is inherently unreal, unhealthy, simplistic and authoritarian, thus, should simply be abolished. Children, youths, adults and the old have diverse psychological impact with regards to television. Television technology is inherently more able to convey some types of educative and good programs (e.g. national geographic, BBC, religious programs, just to name a few) hence, it is most effective when transmitting simplified linear messages, especially advertising. In contrast, television reinforces the trend towards living in an artificial environment, cut off from direct knowledge of the world and susceptible to the implantation of arbitrary realities, it produces neurophysiologic effects which are probably unhealthy and which condition people to accept autocratic control, it causes excessive violence, horror, the cult of beauty, preoccupation with sex, encouragement of unhealthy habits, modeling of uncivil speech and conduct, hindrance of intellectual development, suppression of better activities, promotion of materialism and putting teenagers under too much pressure to meet adult expectations. Everything that children see or hear in the media early on in their lives affects them in some way. Unfortunately, violence is one of the most popular
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