Skip to main content

Michael Rozansky has worked as an editor, writer and reporter for 30 years. Before joining the Annenberg Public Policy Center as director of communications, he spent more than 20 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, most recently supervising its arts and entertainment coverage. He has reported on the arts, media, business, politics, national and regulatory issues. Rozansky also developed and taught a class at Temple University on the history and practice of celebrity journalism. He received a bachelor’s degree in English and American literature from Brown University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. 

Person in oversized coat, sunglasses, and hair falling across their face pointing a gun. Credit: Elijah O'Donnell.

Justified and Unjustified Movie Violence Evoke Different Brain Responses

In a new study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania find that scenes of unjustified and justified violence in movies activate different parts of the adolescent brain. When movie characters engage in violence that is seen as justified, there is a synchronized response among viewers in a part of the brain involved in moral evaluation, suggesting that viewers see it as acceptable for protection.