There is an unwritten rule that we all tend to assume. The rule is “the more violence a person sees on TV, the more violent his tendencies will be in real life.” But one person thought the opposite was true. In fact, the more violent the media becomes, the more afraid we become. This is the middle world syndrome.

What is middle world syndrome?

Average World Syndrome describes a psychological bias where a person believes the world is a more violent place because they see a great deal of violence on television.

The Middle World Syndrome is based on the research of Hungarian Jewish journalist George Gerbner. Fascinated by the impact of violence on television on our perceptions of society, Gerbner wondered why real-life crime numbers were so low, if we were all now consuming greater amounts of violence on television.

How to spot signs of middle world syndrome?

You may think to yourself that it is impossible to give in to this way of thinking, but here are some signs of mediocrity syndrome:

Do you think most people are only looking out for themselves?
Are you afraid to walk in your neighborhood at night?
Are you cautious when dealing with strangers?
Would you cross the road if you saw a man from an ethnic minority approaching you?
Do you think people should return to their original countries?
Are most people looking to take advantage of you?
Would you be unhappy if a Latino or Hispanic family moved in next door?
Do you avoid people from different ethnic backgrounds?
Do you always tend to watch the same types of shows, like horror or gore?
Violence and Television: What Leads Us to Develop the Middle World Syndrome?
We tend to think of television as an innate, harmless form of entertainment. It exists in our living rooms, playing it to please bored children, or sitting in the background unnoticed. But television has changed over the decades.

For example, I am now 55 years old, and I remember the first time I watched The Exorcist. It scared me all nights. I happened to show the film to a few friends who were twenty or so years younger than me, and I expected them to have the same visceral reaction. But they just laughed.

It’s easy to see why. Films like “Hostel” show a woman’s eyes ablaze in graphic detail. In contrast, Linda Blair’s transformation seems comical.

I think we can agree that television and movies, in particular, depict violence in a more graphic way these days. But most of us watch acts of violence like this on television and don’t turn into serial killers. This is what interested Gerbner.

Do you see violence, do violence?

Historically, psychologists have focused on whether those exposed to media violence are more likely to commit acts of violence in real life. Gerbner believed that exposure to media violence was much more complex. He noted that consuming media violence is likely to make us fearful and frightened. but why?

Gerbner found that people with moderate to heavy television and media viewing habits were more likely to believe they would be a victim of violence. They were also more concerned about their personal security. They were less likely to go out in their neighborhood at night.

These responses differed significantly from people with light viewing habits. In this case, light viewers had a more rounded and generous view of society.

“Our studies have shown that growing up from childhood with this unprecedented system of violence has three consequences, which I collectively call the ‘mean world syndrome.’ What this means is that if you grow up in a household where there are more than three hours of television watching a day, in terms of… “In the process, you live in a meaner world – and act accordingly – than your neighbor who lives next door. The same world, but we watch less television.” Gerbner

So what exactly is happening?

There is a historical view of media and television violence that we, the viewers, are passive in our entertainment. We are like sponges, absorbing all gratuitous violence. This outdated view suggests that television and the media fire information like a bullet into our minds. Television and the media can control us like robots, feeding our minds with subliminal messages.

Gerbner saw things differently. He believed that television and the media played a crucial role in the way we viewed society. But it is not a place where we are encouraged to commit acts of violence. A place where we feel afraid and frightened by what we see.

How the mediocrity syndrome is cultivated in our society
According to Gerbner, the problem lies in how this violence is portrayed on television and in the media. Interspersed with regular content. For example, one minute, we see an ad for bleach or diapers, and the next minute, we see a news item that someone’s daughter has been kidnapped, raped, and dismembered.

We go from a shocking news story to a comedy, from a graphic horror film to a cute animal cartoon. It is this constant switching between the two that makes the violence we see normal. When the media normalizes something as terrible as the kidnapping of a child, we don’t feel safe anymore.

We assume that this is the world we live in now. It’s that old news that says, “If it bleeds, it leads.” News channels focus on the most violent crimes, movies find new ways to shock us, and even local news prefers gore and horror over cute stories about saving puppies.

Violence is normal

Gerbner realized that this was the normalization of violence, calling it “happy violence” that cultivated a fearful society. In fact, there is a direct relationship between the amount of television a person watches and their level of fear.