Citation

Berger C. J. Commun. 1998; 48(3): 87-106.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, International Communication Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1460-2466.1998.tb02761.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Two experiments examined whether the apprehension and perceived victimization risk of individuals reading news reports depicting frequency of increases in threatening phenomena would be lowered by exposure to stories portraying population increases. Experiment 1 found higher apprehension and victimization risk levels among females, but no population data effects. In Experiment 2, males who received moderately risky threats manifested significantly lower levels of apprehension when population increase stories were presented before threatening messages. Neither females nor those who received low victimization risk threats showed such effects. Females who imagined threats displayed higher levels of apprehension than females receiving threatening messages. The influences of involvement and stress on complex information-processing are discussed.