RE: Superhero Movies: The Truth About Our Love for Superpowers

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Does watching too much super hero movies affect ones psychology?

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I have read about several studies on the effect of watching TV series and films, mostly as curious data in scientific publications. And the results of two studies, one British and one American, are particularly interesting.

In the case of the British study, from 2019 and led by Daisy Fancourt (from the University of London), a reduction in verbal memory was found in the people evaluated. The terms were more like: the consumption of 3.5 hours of audiovisual content such as Netflix could increase the deterioration of verbal memory or semantic fluency. This study was carried out on people over 60 years old, and was interested in possible factors that increase the risk of senile dementia, which makes its results (perhaps) too specific and not very applicable to other populations.

In the American study, coordinated by Dr. Ryan Dougherty (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore) between 1990 and 2011; they detected cognitive deterioration in the people they evaluated. Perhaps what surprised me most about this study was that they diagnosed that those who watched more than 2.5 hours a day of television tended to have smaller than normal entorhinal and prefrontal cortexes in their brains. The entorhinal cortex is located in the medial temporal lobe and functions as a hub in an extended network for memory and orientation, so if these two areas fail, the risk of developing diseases and/or mental disorders such as dementia, antisocial behavior, and schizophrenia increases.

As you can see, excessive consumption of movies and series can be harmful to health, and they are also associated with a sedentary lifestyle, which leads to an increased risk of obesity, heart problems, and other ailments.

Well, I don't want to scare you and say that watching movies is bad, what happens is that everything in excess is harmful. So it's fine to enjoy a movie and relax, but you have to be careful that it doesn't become something like an addiction.

I have gone on at length in my comment, and the question was not even intended for me (!LOLZ), I apologize for that, and I am signing off, hoping that everyone is well.

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In the case of the British study, from 2019 and led by Daisy Fancourt (from the University of London), a reduction in verbal memory was found in the people evaluated. The terms were more like: the consumption of 3.5 hours of audiovisual content such as Netflix could increase the deterioration of verbal memory or semantic fluency.

I havent read this study-- I would appreciate if you could share a link to the study... But I would say that given the subjects of the study, I think that the effects cannot be wholly attributed to consumption of audiovisual content... I personally think that some audio visual contents like podcasts and interviews help to improve vocabulary and speaking prowess.

However, I think that the effect would have been due to the sedentary posture that is required for consuming audovisual content for extended periods of time.

diagnosed that those who watched more than 2.5 hours a day of television tended to have smaller than normal entorhinal and prefrontal cortexes in their brains.

With this study, I would not say with certainty that degredation of the prefrontal cortex was a direct result of watching movies... I think I heard about this study at some time and they were studying people who were watching traditional TV which included those very dumb adverts and extremely stupid shows...

It would be no surprise to see some level of intellectual decline in a person who consumes a lot of dull content, which was pretty much what traditional TV has been for a while.

However, I agree 100 percent with your point that watching TV or movies, or anything audiovisual actually increases sedentary lifestyle and therefore can increase one's risk for obesity and heart disease.

PS: I always love your comments, they are stimulating and a breath of fresh air.

Thanks for stopping by.

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I have notes from the British study, because I worked on a review of a review article for a friend. I don't have the original article, but in the colleague's review he pointed out that he had taken it from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29977058/ where there was a link for free download of the text. I hope that publication is still available.

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Thank you.
The study looked into the relationship between social engagement and cognitive decline in individuals over 52yrs.

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That is a good question
Watching a lot of superhero movies can have psychological effects, both positive and negative, depending on factors such as the viewer's age, mindset, and frequency of consumption.

Let me stick with one or two negative ones.

We all have the psychological phenomenon when we watch movies... it happens that we gradually start to identify with the main character of the movie... and in super hero movies, it would be the super hero... This creates a form of unrealistic expectations in the mind, as we would like to aspire to be the individual that we are admiring.

Secondly, there is the desensitization to violence... Because violence sells, most movies involve violence, especially super hero ones. A gradual exposure to violence means that young minds become numb to the sufferings of others.

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