Death, murder, violence, and sexual coercion are all things that we have become somewhat accustomed, and to a certain extent, desensitized to, over our lives. Because many of us have experienced these acts in one form or another since birth (either a real world personal experience or through the media.), they may seem relatively normal to us in a given circumstance. However, these heinous and immoral acts are anything but natural or ordinary. It is in our very nature as human beings to feel some sort of uneasiness, whether that be fear, anxiety, or hostility (perhaps even all three), when we experience, see, or hear about one of these events. So why is it that we all do not cringe at the very sight or thought of these situations? In short, the media. Since the birth of the information age, or digital revolution as it is often referred to as, the growing impact of the mass media has been debated. Many believe that it has desensitized us and distorted our perception of reality to many things, and as a result, has made us (society) more aggressive, while others state that any relationship between this desensitization and aggression with the media is merely correlational and not enough to determine cause and effect (Krahé, 2012). This paper will discuss the various theories of aggression as well as the impact that the media has had on society with relation to desentization and aggression. First, I will consider exactly what aggression is, how it is formed and what events are likely to cause it. Next, once we are comfortable with aggression and all it encompasses, I will discuss how the mass media has affected how people view, think about, and act, with respect to violence and aggression in today’s society. In order to examine and determine the impact that the media has had on desensitization and aggression in our society, we must first understand what is meant by these terms and how they function. Desensitization, as defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is “to cause (someone or something) to react less or to be less affected by something.” The desensitization of the ordinarily unethical, immoral, and often unlawful, acts mentioned in the introduction above has lead to an increase in aggressive, violent, and deviant behaviour (Krahé et al., 2011). Aggression, however, can be difficult to define as it can include a wide variety of acts and behaviours. Various operational definitions of aggression have been used in countless studies over the years which can make accurately assessing the influence of the media difficult. However, for the purpose of this paper I will use the definition as provided by Myers, Spencer, and Jordan (2012)-they define aggression as any physical or verbal behaviour that has the intention to cause harm. Essentially, this definition of aggression is synonymous with violence, but excludes any unintentional harm (e.g., car accidents) as well as actions that may involve pain as an unavoidable side effect of helping someone (e.g., dental treatments and assisted suicide). The initiation of aggression can occur for a variety of reasons and changes from person to person, however, the most reliable and consistent of these are: aversive incidents, such as pain or heat, being attacked (both verbally and physically), and our arousal level when combined with various aggression cues (e.g., guns). Moreover, within humans, aggression can separated into two categories: hostile aggression and instrumental aggression. The goal of hostile aggression is to injure and is generally driven by anger. Instrumental aggression, on the other hand, also aims to injure, but only as a means to some other end (e.g., seeking monetary gain through armed robbery). To further clarify, acts such as terrorism and war are typically slotted under the instrumental aggression category, while most murders and sexual assaults are viewed as hostile aggression. A media influence can easily be observed within these two forms of aggression. The mass media has a tendency to make us more tolerable of instrumental aggression and seems to not only make hostile aggression more tolerable, but also more accepting and rewarding. Incidents of hostile aggression have been on the rise since the 1960’s, as it was during this time that the media began its increase of modelling unrestrained violence and sexuality (Myers et al., 2012). In analyzing the causes of hostile and instrumental aggression, social psychologists have narrowed their focus to three core concepts: biological, frustration, and learning. The first concept revolves around the idea that aggression is biologically rooted within us. The second concept or idea, is concerned with aggression being a natural response to frustration. And finally, the third concept maintains that aggression is neither inborn nor a natural reaction, but rather that it is a learned behaviour.      The father of psychoanalysis and the most well known psychologist today, Sigmund Freu