As we frequently talk about the sad state to which television and movies have fallen, word of a new study sheds light on the effect of the moral decay promoted in the media.
LifeSiteNews says a new study from researchers at the University of California published in the Journal of Communication found that portrayals of risky sexual behaviors altered people's expectations about such encounters.
Those with less experience and exposure to such behaviors in the past were more susceptible to an altered expectation.
This would tend to make sense, since innocence is often more corruptible than the attitude of someone who has "been around the block." While someone more experienced with moral compromise may indulge in it even more, they might also be more familiar with the cold, hard reality of some of the negative consequences of that behavior.
However, even that often doesn't make a difference.
"Even when behaviors are negatively portrayed, audiences may be motivated to model them anyways," the authors conclude. "We hope this research stimulates greater care in the application and testing of psychological theories to the study of media content and effects."
Of course, human beings are not animals or automatons. Human beings have a free will and can choose whether or not to emulate behaviors they see in media, so media responsibility only goes so far.
However, our culture has been in moral free-fall for decades, with few parents or other authority figures instilling a strong moral center in young people. This ethical void leaves many young people susceptible to these enticements, with no internal moral standards with which to resist such allures.
The responsible thing to do, of course, would be not only a return to strong moral teaching by parents and other authorities, but also restraint on the part of pop culture and media.
Since the latter isn't going to happen without the former, it's time for parents and authorities to get to work repairing the breached walls of our society.
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