In 1996, the National Television Violence Study examined the most extensive body of television programming ever collected for the purpose of content analysis. The study found that the majority of all entertainment programming contains violence. Viewers become desensitized and fearful and begin to identify with aggressors and the aggressors' solutions to various problems. The violent behaviors and attitudes thus encoded, aggression is now all the more likely in personal situations. A Distortion of Reality Individuals with greater exposure to media violence see the world as a dark and sinister place.
Television programs present a narrow view of the world, and the world they present is violent.
Thus, people who watch a lot of television are more likely than those who watch less to see the world as being violent and overestimate their chance of being involved in violence. Nowhere is the media's distortion of reality greater than in the portrayal of individuals with mental illness. A 1997 content analysis of programming found that television characters with mental illnesses were highly likely to be shown commiting acts of violence. In fact, mentally ill characters were 10 times more violent than the general population of television characters, despite mountains of evidence that show that individuals with mental illnesses are no more likely to be violent than mentally healthy individuals. Protecting Our Youth Children and adolescents are exposed to more media depictions of violence than ever before.