Dolf Zillmann

Cognition-excitation interdependences in aggressive behavior

This paper explores interdependences between cognitive and excitatory processes that concur during experiences of acute anger and the performance of aggressive actions, and it develops the implications of these interdependencies for anger and aggression. Specifically, the influence of cognitive processes on the time course of excitatory activity (mainly, sympathetic dominance in the autonomic nervous system), on anger, and on aggressive behavior is projected from theory and documented with pertinent research findings. The influence of different and changing levels of excitatory activity on cognitive functioning (mainly, the appraisal and reappraisal of endangerments), on anger, and on aggressive behavior is likewise derived from theory and documented with empirical research. Special attention is given to the anger- and aggression-diminishing capacity of the cognitive reassessment of endangering conditions, and to impulsive destructive behaviors that result from the transitory impairment of cognitive functioning at extreme levels of excitation.

Emotional arousal in the facilitation of aggression through communication

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a report of a program of research on emotional arousal in the facilitation of aggression through communication. It focuses on emotional arousal that many communication messages, especially those presented in highly dramatic format, can elicit in most viewers, and suggests that this arousal can play a significant role in the degree to which the individual will engage in aggressive behavior. Because a major factor motivating the present research is to test an alternative model to account for previous findings, the same basic methodological format has been adopted in the research program as well. The chapter discuses the elementary arousal model, which focuses on the degree of emotional arousal, and it contends that physiological excitation serves to activate or energize behaviors without channeling itself toward any particular behavior. It proposes a more sophisticated theory to incorporate the various cognitive and arousal factors into a single model and demonstrates more specifically how they interact to determine the behavior. As this program of theoretical speculation and research has evolved, three different facets of the problem of the effect of communications on subsequent aggressive behavior have arisen. Each addresses a different phase of the experimental procedure, thus focusing on a different component of the process.

The appeal of rough‐and‐tumble play in televised professional football

In a factorial design varying (1) the degree of roughness/violence of a play (low, intermediate, and high), (2) several particular plays within this classification, and (3) sex of viewer, the enjoyment of televised plays of professional football was investigated. The plays were taken from a large pool of plays drawn from numerous games and involving numerous teams. In a pretest, a strong differentiation in the selection plays degree of roughness/violence was secured. At the same time, the plays were matched on several other, potentially contaminating stimulus dimensions. The enjoyment of plays was found to increase with the degree of their apparent roughness/violence. However, this relationship was significant for male viewers only. It was not reliable for females. There were no appreciable sex differences in the enjoyment of plays featuring low and intermediate levels of roughness. Highly violent plays, in contrast, were significantly more enjoyed by males than by females. The findings suggest that, at ...

Media, Children, and the Family : Social Scientific, Psychodynamic, and Clinical Perspectives

Contents: Preface. Part I: Media and the Family. A.C. Huston, D. Zillmann, J. Bryant, Media Influence, Public Policy, and the Family. M.S. Andreasen, Patterns of Family Life and Television Consumption From 1945 to the 1990s. T. Skill, Family Images and Family Actions as Presented in the Media: Where Weve Been and What Weve Found. A. Alexander, The Effect of Media on Family Interaction. R. Kubey, Media Implications for the Quality of Family Life. Part II: Developmental and Educational Implications. A.C. Huston, J.C. Wright, Educating Children With Television: The Forms of the Medium. E.E. Allen, Strategies for the 1990s: Using the Media for Good. D.G. Singer, J.L. Singer, Evaluating the Classroom Viewing of a Television Series: Degrassi Junior High. C. Ashbach, Media Influences and Personality Development: The Inner Image and the Outer World. Part III: Effects of Violence and Horror. A.P. Derdeyn, J.M. Turley, Television, Films, and the Emotional Life of Children. J. Cantor, Confronting Childrens Fright Responses to Mass Media. R.G. Geen, Television and Aggression: Recent Developments in Research and Theory. Part IV: Sexual Content and Family Context. B.S. Greenberg, Content Trends in Media Sex. J. Bryant, S.C. Rockwell, Effects of Massive Exposure to Sexually Oriented Prime-Time Television Programming on Adolescents Moral Judgment. Part V: Effects of Erotica and Pornography. D. Zillmann, Erotica and Family Values. J.B. Weaver, III, Pornography and Sexual Callousness: The Perceptual and Behavioral Consequences of Exposure to Pornography. V.B. Cline, Pornography Effects: Empirical and Clinical Evidence. M.D. Reed, Pornography Addiction and Compulsive Sexual Behavior. J.S. Lyons, R.L. Anderson, D.B. Larson, A Systematic Review of the Effects of Aggressive and Nonaggressive Pornography. Part VI: Social Awareness and Public Policy. J.A. Reisman, Child Pornography in Erotic Magazines, Social Awareness, and Self-Censorship. R. Showers, Research, Public Policy, and Law: Combination for Change.

Sports Violence and the Media

Although the notion that spectators enjoy violence in sports seems to be a truism in contemporary society, it has received scant scholarly attention. In this chapter we consider the nature and consequences of sports violence; present popular notions, formal proposals, and empirical evidence for the enhancement of spectators’ enjoyment of sports contests through aggressive play; and examine ways in which the media exploit sports violence.

Residual Emotional Arousal as a Distractor in Persuasion

Summary To test the effect of emotional arousal produced prior to exposure to a persuasive message on the impact of this message, subjects were exposed to a persuasive communication immediately after seeing one of four film stimuli selected and pretested to effect a factorial variation in (a) excitatory potential (low, high) and (b) hedonic tone (positive, negative). The subjects residual emotional response to the high-excitation films served as distraction from the subsequent message; the low-excitation films served as non-distracting controls. Different effects on persuasion were predicted from three distinct rationales, based on (a) the distractors interference with counterarguing, (b) the distractors interference with the learning of the message, and (c) generalization of the affective reaction produced by the distractor. Counter to all predictions, no significant effects of distraction were manifest. An unpredicted effect of hedonic tone was obtained, however; acceptance of the speakers persuasiv...

Effects of humorous distortions on children's learning from educational television: Further evidence

Fourth‐ and eighth‐grade male and female students were exposed to an educational television program that contained (a) distortion‐free humor, (b) exaggeration (compatible distortion), (c) irony (incompatible distortion), or (d) ironic humor followed by a correction of the humorous distortion (incompatible, corrected). Information acquisition and funniness were measured after exposure. Compared with distortion‐free humor, irony resulted in the misperception of properties of novel objects introduced in the program. Correction after irony largely failed to remove the perceptual distortion. Exaggeration tended to produce overestimation of the properties. Counter to initial expectations, susceptibility to perceptual distortions did not diminish with age. Subject gender and grade both yielded insignificant effects.

Effects of questions, personalized communication style, and pauses for reflection in children’s educational programs

AbstractSix program versions of a televised childrens story were produced to represent all combinations of two stimulus factors. The first factor varied communication style employed in presenting pertinent information by using (a) interspersed curiosity-arousing questions, (b) the same questions addressed directly to the viewer (through the use of “you”), or (c) no questions. The second factor varied the time available to reflect on materials presented by providing either (a) a pause, or (b) no pause following the presentation of pertinent information. Kindergarten and first-grade students were exposed to one of the six versions. Visual attention to the program versions, information acquisition of the pertinent materials, and hedonic reactions to the programs were measured. No appreciable differences due to grade or gender were observed. Independent of time allowed for reflection, the use of personalized questions produced levels of information acquisition significantly above those in the no-question con...