Citation

Bushman BJ, Geen RG. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1990; 58(1): 156-163.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2308072

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that observation of media violence elicits thoughts and emotional responses related to aggression. In Experiment 1, highly violent videotapes elicited more aggressive cognitions than did a less violent tape. This effect was moderated by the trait of stimulus screening. In Experiment 2, aggressive cognitions increased with the level of violence in the videotape, and physical assaultiveness influenced this effect. Hostility and systolic blood pressure were higher in response to the most violent video than in response to the other two. Hostility was influenced by emotional susceptibility and dissipation-rumination, and systolic blood pressure was influenced by emotional susceptibility and assaultiveness.

Language: en