Citation

Raney AA, Depalma AJ. Mass Commun. Soc. 2006; 9(3): 321-338.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/s15327825mcs0903_4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the levels and contexts of sports violence and viewer enjoyment, mood, and perceptions of violence. To this end, 188 participants viewed clips in 1 of 3 viewing conditions: nonviolent play, unscripted violent play, and scripted violent play. Findings indicated that viewers enjoyed the violent play more than the nonviolent, enjoyed the unscripted violent play more than the scripted, and found the scripted violent play to be less suspenseful and more violent than the unscripted play. Furthermore, members of the scripted violent play condition reported less positive moods after viewing, especially female and nonsports-fan participants. Possible implications of the findings for entertainment researchers are discussed.