Mean world syndrome
Etymology
A term from communication scholar George Gerbner’s cultivation theory in the 1970s, which studied how heavy television viewing "cultivates" a distorted worldview. Flagged as a coinage.
noun phrase · /MEEN WURLD SIN-drohm/
The tendency of heavy media consumers to believe the world is more dangerous and violent than it actually is.
What it names
A vivid handle for how a steady diet of crime coverage and dark news warps your sense of risk — useful for checking your own fears against reality.
Example
Her mean world syndrome had her triple-locking the door in one of the safest towns in the country.
Related idea
Compare the availability heuristic, the mental shortcut of judging risk by what comes to mind; mean world syndrome is the long-term worldview that heavy media exposure builds through it.