<p>I am a 16 years old teenager. And recently I have watched a 18+ TV, and I feel kind of unconfortable, but it made me wondering why the Age system is supposed to be set this way, out of curiosity. Out of common sense, a kid can't be watching sex at an early age, but Why? Out of common reasoning, a kid can't be watching violence at an early age, because that would affect his/her behavior. But is there a deeper psychologically-theoretic level of explaining the phenomenon of the appearance of TV age rating? I am especially curious in the difference between &quot;adult&quot; and &quot;teenager&quot; in terms of the reason why they segregated these two terms while making the rating system.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-13T00:25:06.867Z
It's set by politicians, the scientific backing for it may well have been a post-hoc thing. I'm merely stating this so you don't set your expectations too high for a definitive answer. There's a phenomenon known as the [Overton window](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window) which may point you to the social-context of such decisions.
Jiminy Cricket.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-13T12:17:09.330Z
I agree with @JiminyCricket - this question is more likely to have a political answer than a psychological one. The concepts of teenager vs adult already existed for voting, drinking, driving, consent, etc, so were likely easier to piggie-back onto than inventing something new.
Arnon Weinberg
<developmental-psychology><evolutionary-psychology>
How is the psychology behind TV rating system by age?
Yinuo An
# How is the psychology behind TV rating system by age?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-12)

I am a 16 years old teenager. And recently I have watched a 18+ TV, and I feel kind of unconfortable, but it made me wondering why the Age system is supposed to be set this way, out of curiosity. Out of common sense, a kid can't be watching sex at an early age, but Why? Out of common reasoning, a kid can't be watching violence at an early age, because that would affect his/her behavior. But is there a deeper psychologically-theoretic level of explaining the phenomenon of the appearance of TV age rating? I am especially curious in the difference between "adult" and "teenager" in terms of the reason why they segregated these two terms while making the rating system.

**Tags:** developmental-psychology, evolutionary-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's set by politicians, the scientific backing for it may well have been a post-hoc thing. I'm merely stating this so you don't set your expectations too high for a definitive answer. There's a phenomenon known as the [Overton window](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window) which may point you to the social-context of such decisions.  
> **username_2**: I agree with @JiminyCricket - this question is more likely to have a political answer than a psychological one. The concepts of teenager vs adult already existed for voting, drinking, driving, consent, etc, so were likely easier to piggie-back onto than inventing something new.  

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## 0 answers

