Citation

Bushman BJ, Baumeister RF, Stack AD. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1999; 76(3): 367-376.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames 50011-3180, USA. bushman@iastate.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10101875

Abstract

Does media endorsement for catharsis produce a self-fulfilling or a self-defeating prophecy? In Study 1, participants who read a procatharsis message (claiming that aggressive action is a good way to relax and reduce anger) subsequently expressed a greater desire to hit a punching bag than did participants who read an anticatharsis message. In Study 2, participants read the same messages and then actually did hit a punching bag. This exercise was followed by an opportunity to engage in laboratory aggression. Contrary to the catharsis hypothesis and to the self-fulfilling prophecy prediction, people who read the procatharsis message and then hit the punching bag were subsequently more aggressive than were people who read the anticatharsis message.

Language: en