Thrill Seeking and Revenge as Few Predictors of Violence Free Essay Example, 1250 words

The article "A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Adolescent Risk-Taking" by Steinberg proposes a framework for theory and research on risk-taking that is informed by developmental neuroscience. Two fundamental questions motivate this review. First, why does risk-taking increase between childhood and adolescence? Second, why does risk-taking decline between adolescence and adulthood? Risk-taking increases between childhood and adolescence as a result of changes around the time of puberty in the brain s socio-emotional system leading to increased reward-seeking, especially in the presence of peers, fueled mainly by a dramatic remodeling of the brain s dopaminergic system. Risk-taking declines between adolescence and adulthood because of changes in the brain s cognitive control system changes which improve individuals capacity for self-regulation. These changes occur across adolescence and young adulthood and are seen in structural and functional changes within the prefrontal cortex and its connections to other brain regions. The differing timetables of these changes make mid-adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability to risky and reckless behavior. Greene, K., Krcmar, M. (2005). Predicting exposure to and liking of media violence: a uses and gratifications approach. Communication Studies, 56 (1): 71-93AbstractUse of violent media content by adolescents has long been a matter of public concern and debate, a concern that was heightened by the reported use of violent computer games and websites by the killers at Columbine High School in 1999.We will write a custom essay sample on Thrill Seeking and Revenge as Few Predictors of Violence or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now This study examined predictors of various types of self-reported use of violent media content by 8th graders (N = 3,127) from 20 schools around the U. S. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that gender, sensation seeking, aggression, and frequency of Internet use had relatively strong contributions to explaining the use of violent media content composite and the measure of violent website content use. Alienation variables contributed significantly, though modestly, to the variance explained in the use of violence-oriented websites, but not to the composite measure.