As we are exposed to varying kinds of media, we respond in differing ways both physiologically and psychologically. One effect is desensitization , the process by which repeated exposure to a stimulus reduces negative emotional arousal to its presentation later on. Early psychological research saw desensitization manifested primarily in clinical/behavior modification contexts such as exposure therapy (e.g., presenting a snake‐phobic client with pictures of snakes, then videos, then seeing a snake from afar, to eventually holding a snake). As research has progressed, the idea of being desensitized through repeated exposure has raised questions about various types of exposure therapy (e.g., systematic desensitization, flooding, cognitive behavior modification), demonstrating that often (although not always), the more you are exposed to something, the less jarring and arousing that thing becomes mentally, emotionally, and psychophysiologically. Of particular interest in this entry is how electronic media (e.g., TV, movies, video games, social media) can desensitize us to violence. Studies of this have shown that exposure to media violence can make people less empathetic, and less physiologically aroused by portrayals of violence in both the short‐term (experimental studies) and over time (cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies).