Till Benedikt, Truong Florence, Mar Raymond A, Niederkrotenthaler Thomas
a Suicide Research Unit , Institute of Social Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria.
b Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods , School of Psychology, University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria.
Death Stud. 2016 Oct;40(9):538-546. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2016.1186761. Epub 2016 Jun 3.
Previous studies suggest that distorted representations of reality on television can lead to distorted perceptions of reality among viewers. In this study, 322 individuals in Austria reported their weekly television consumption and whether they believe that there is active practice of capital punishment in Austria, which has been abolished since 1968. The more television participants watched, the more likely they mistakenly believed that there is, or recently was, capital punishment in Austria, even when controlling for participants' age and education. It seems that television has the potential to influence viewers' perception and knowledge of core aspects of society.
