Film exposure's effect on empathy toward soldiers and war

¶ … empathy change, if any, with regard to the realities of war. The writer produces a problem statement, a short literature review, an explanation of method to be used and the way the data will be collected. There were seven sources used to complete this paper.

When the war first began, it brought many emotions to the surface of society. Anger, rage, fear, and sadness all played a part in the public's support of going to war, but as time moves forward and individuals get on with their daily lives, the war is pushed to the background of many people's minds. Info: I need a research proposal that studies the amount of empathy change in individuals after they see a film depicting the realities of war. I would like a Works Cited

While soldiers continue to do battle in Iraw, Afghanistan and other areas of the world, Americans work, play and generally do not realize or remember the realities of war and what it puts the soldiers through who must represent this country. This research proposal will test the changes, if any, in empathy about the realities of war once participants are shown a war movie.

Statement of Problem

The realities of war do not seem real to people when the war is halfway around the world. This lack of empathy on the part of society can create problems for returning soldiers as well as soldiers that are fighting the war currently. One of the things that helps boos morale in the war zone is for the soldiers to believe that their nation stands behind their efforts. Whether one believes in the war or not, the support for the soldiers has not been questioned since the beginning of the war, however, as people go about their daily lives they tend to forget that there are soldiers in desert areas being shot at every day. The empathy factor is often missing when it comes to Americans and the war. Perhaps if those individuals had an awareness of the realities of war they would gain more empathy for the soldiers overseas, and show their support of those soldiers by way of email, letters, bumper stickers and other messages of hope.

Literature Review (Kim, 1994)

For as long as television has been around, a debate has ensued about the impact violence on television has on those who watch it. The studies that have been conducted, are instrumental to this research proposal as it provides insight as to how movies about the realities of war may affect those who watch them.

The impact of television and movies on those who watch them cannot be denied. The United States Congress commissioned studies about the impact of violence on television and children, and those studies concluded there is a negative impact involved. What this means for the purpose of the proposed study is that there is already a clear correlation between what is seen on television and in movies and the way viewers react to those images.

Though the debate over television violence has raged almost since the first set flickered to life, 1993 witnessed a remarkable shift in the balance of power in favor of would-be regulators. Perhaps because of increased public concern with the rising levels of violence in American society, legislators who were previously willing to rely on industry-initiated measures to deal with the violence problem were now poised to control the nation's video diet with government regulation."

The fact that government entities are willing to act on the belief that watching violence impacts viewers lends itself to the proposal hypothesis that movies about the realities of war will change the empathy levels of viewers with regard to war. (Erwin, 1997)

Another study on how viewing something on television and movies impacts the outcome used 316 participants, who were all between 11 and 16 years old. Each of them was asked to respond to a 47 item questionnaire that shared attitudes and personal information about themselves. They were then divided into two groups based on their individual attitudes about television violence.

Cashmore (1994) wrote that the focus of at least 1,000 research publications has been the possibility of a link between television violence and actual violence; in over three quarters of these publications, the authors have claimed that such a link does indeed exist and have provided various interpretations of its mechanisms."

This provides at least provisional support for the hypothesis of the proposed study.

It is interesting to note that further study found that repeated exposure on television to acts of violence actually desensitized those who viewed it. This is important to note for the purpose of the research proposal as the participants will only watch the film one time. Further studies into exposing participants to multiple viewings should be conducted to determine what if any impact that has on empathy. (Stover, 2004)

The events of 9-11 were catastrophic not only in their casualty numbers, but in the impact it had on American society. The initial reaction was shock and disbelief, soon followed by anger and support for war. As the years of the war move forward however, news stories begin to surface about soldiers not feeling the public support when they return home. Political debates rage about the empathy or lack of it toward the war and all that the war entails.

This study will examine whether movies about war realities will change the empathy factor of the public. It will not only be important for the future support of the soldiers, but will also answer questions about propaganda being used to drum support for a war that the public may no longer feel is necessary.

Data Collection

Once the surveys have been completed the viewers will be excused and the data will be entered into a computer base according to several factors including certain demographic information and answers given with regard to reflecting change or no change in thoughts and empathy from watching the movie.

Participants

Participants will be chosen from local college campuses and will be asked to participate on a Saturday afternoon. There will be 25 participants that will be comprised of a cross section racially, ethnically and gender.

Conclusion

This proposal is for a study that will determine what, if any empathy changes take place with regard to war, after viewers watch a movie about the realities of war. It will not provide answers about the possible desensitization of feelings, if the participants were to be exposed to the movie many times, as has been proven happens in television violence exposure. The weakness of this study will include the inability to know if a different movie would provide a different impact and if the geographic and regional area that all participants are drawn from have an impact on the results.