How visual media impacts our minds …

In an era where screens and visuals dominate our daily lives, it’s fascinating to explore how our brain processes what we watch and how it influences our moral compass. The notion that visual media bypasses the part of the brain responsible for moral reasoning is a simplification, but there’s more to this story! Understanding how various forms of visual media — such as television, movies, magazines, and social media — affect our brain and behavior involves diving into the complexities of neuroscience and psychology, including theories like Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and other psychological mechanisms.

THE BRAIN ON VISUAL MEDIA: PROCESSING VISUAL INFORMATION
When we engage with visual media, whether it’s television, movies, magazines, or online content, our eyes take in visual information that is processed by the visual cortex in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain. This information is then integrated with other sensory inputs and further processed in the temporal and parietal lobes to help us understand and interpret what we are seeing. This process is incredibly efficient and allows us to quickly make sense of complex visual scenes.

However, moral reasoning and decision-making involve the prefrontal cortex, particularly the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). This area of the brain is crucial for evaluating social and ethical issues, and it plays a significant role in how we judge right from wrong. While visual media does not bypass these moral reasoning areas, it can still profoundly influence our thoughts and behaviors.

BANDURA’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY: LEARNING FROM WHAT WE SEE
One of the key frameworks for understanding how media influences behavior is Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. This theory posits that people learn from one another through observation, imitation, and modeling. According to Bandura, there are four key processes involved in social learning:

1. Attention. We must pay attention to a behavior to learn it. Visual media, with its captivating visuals and narratives, effectively captures our attention.

2. Retention. We must remember the behavior we observed. Repeated exposure to certain behaviors in media enhances our ability to retain this information. For example, you may know someone who can recite lines or significant portions of dialogues from TV shows and movies, demonstrating profound retention!

3. Reproduction. We must have the ability to reproduce the behavior. Watching characters in media can provide us with the knowledge and skills to imitate their actions.

4. Motivation. We must be motivated to perform the behavior. Media often portrays behaviors that are rewarded, encouraging viewers to replicate them.

Bandura’s theory helps explain why individuals, particularly children, are susceptible to learning and imitating behaviors seen in various forms of media. For example, children who watch violent television shows or movies may be more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior, while those who read educational magazines can develop positive social skills.

DESENSITIZATION AND PRIMING: OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS
Beyond social learning, other psychological mechanisms also play a role in how visual media influences our moral reasoning:

Desensitization. Repeated exposure to certain types of content, such as violence or explicit material, can lead to desensitization. This means that over time, individuals may have a reduced emotional response to such content, seeing it as more normal or acceptable. This shift can alter moral judgments, making people more tolerant of aggressive or explicit behaviors in real life.

Priming. Priming occurs when exposure to a stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus. Media can prime viewers to think or feel in certain ways by setting a mental framework that shapes their perceptions and reactions. For instance, watching a news segment about community volunteers might make viewers more likely to help others shortly afterward, as their minds are primed with positive social behaviors. This kind of content, known as prosocial content, includes media that promotes positive, helpful, and cooperative behavior. Examples of prosocial content include shows that emphasize kindness, cooperation, sharing, and empathy, such as children’s programs that teach social skills or dramas that highlight altruistic actions.

On the flip side, negative priming can occur when viewers are exposed to aggressive or antisocial content. For example, watching a violent movie or TV show can prime viewers to have more aggressive thoughts and emotions. This might make someone more likely to interpret ambiguous situations as hostile or to respond with aggression themselves. This is known as aggressive priming, where the repeated exposure to violent stimuli conditions viewers to react more aggressively in real-life situations.

THE IMPACT OF OTHER VISUALS
The effects of visual media extend beyond television and movies to other formats such as magazines, pornography, and social media platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook and others. These types of media can influence our thoughts, behaviors, and moral judgments in similar ways. For example:

Magazines. Visual and textual content in magazines can shape perceptions and behaviors through both social learning and priming. Fashion and lifestyle magazines often set standards for beauty and success, influencing readers’ self-esteem and behaviors. For example, repeated exposure to images of idealized body types can lead to body dissatisfaction and unhealthy behaviors, while articles on healthy living can encourage positive lifestyle changes.

Pornography. The consumption of pornography can have significant psychological impacts. Repeated exposure to explicit material can lead to desensitization, reducing emotional responses to sexual content and potentially altering expectations and behaviors in real-life sexual relationships. Pornography can also prime individuals to view others as sexual objects rather than whole persons, affecting interpersonal relationships and potentially fostering aggressive or harmful sexual behaviors.

Social media. Platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook and others are primarily visual and can have powerful effects on viewers. Social media often presents idealized versions of reality, which can lead to unrealistic expectations and social comparisons. Repeated exposure to carefully curated images of perfect lives and bodies can cause feelings of inadequacy, depression, and anxiety. On the other hand, social media can also promote prosocial behavior by sharing content that encourages empathy, kindness, and community support. Viral campaigns, inspirational stories, and positive social movements can prime users to engage in similar behaviors offline.

BIBLICAL GUIDANCE: GUARDING WHAT WE SEE
For Christians, the influence of visual media aligns with biblical teachings about the importance of guarding our eyes and minds. In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus teaches: “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” This passage underscores the significance of what we choose to look at and take in, and how it impacts our inner life. By being mindful of the media we consume, we can ensure that our “lamp” is filled with light, leading to a life of holiness rather than a life corrupted by the darkness of this world.

THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Exercising our Christian faith and having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can profoundly impact how the brain processes visual media. Here are a few ways this spiritual influence can shape our interaction with visual content:

Spiritual discernment. The Holy Spirit provides believers with the capacity for spiritual discernment, helping them to differentiate between content that aligns with their faith and biblical truth and content that does not. This spiritual guidance can influence decision-making, encouraging Christians to avoid media that may have negative effects on their minds and hearts.

“I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar …” Psalm 101:3a.

Strengthened moral compass. The transformative work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life strengthens their moral compass. This inner transformation can make individuals more sensitive to the impact of visual media and more resistant to negative influences such as desensitization or aggressive priming.

Renewed mindset. Romans 12:2 teaches us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect,” and Ephesians 3:23 states succinctly, “Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” This renewal of the mind through the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to critically assess the media they consume and to seek content that uplifts and edifies. Further, Philippians 2:13 tells us that God is working in us in a powerfully positive way that will impact our engagement with visual media: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Focus on purity. Philippians 4:8 encourages believers to focus on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Further, Colossians 3:13 gives us this exhortation: “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” By filling our minds with such things, Christians can counteract the potential negative effects of visual media and cultivate a more wholesome and spiritually healthy mindset.

NAVIGATING THE IMPACT OF VISUAL MEDIA
As consumers of visual media, we can navigate its impact by being mindful of our consumption. Parents and caregivers can play a crucial role by curating content for children and discussing the themes and behaviors portrayed. Encouraging biblical and critical thinking about what we watch and read can help mitigate negative influences and enhance positive learning experiences.

While visual media does not bypass our moral reasoning areas, it significantly influences us through complex psychological mechanisms. By understanding these processes and applying biblical wisdom, we can make wiser choices about our media consumption and its impact on our spiritual, moral, and social development. Christian faith and the guidance of the Holy Spirit enables us to discern the influences of visual media, leading to a more biblically grounded and fulfilling life.

Scotty