NCJ Number
111328
Journal
Journal of Communication Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1987) Pages: 29-45
Date Published
1987
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The possible factors affecting emotional arousal in response to media violence were examined using an experimental methodology that focused on social class, gender, and personality.
Abstract
Subjects were 72 unpaid volunteer undergraduate students and 78 paid residents of an inner city housing project. Each subject completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and watched a videotape that started with 2 minutes of nonviolent material and continued with 10 brief film excerpts depicting different forms of violence. Their skin conductance was monitored to determine their physiological arousal. They also completed questionnaires asking about their own use of the media, testing their recall of the violent scenes, and asking to rate the level of excitement they had experienced watching each scene. The inner city subjects were significantly more aroused by the videotapes than were the college students, particularly with respect to scenes of rape. Gender and personality were not mediating factors in arousal to violence, however. Tables and 45 references.