VIEWER APPREHENSION ABOUT VICTIMIZATION AND CRIME DRAMA PROGRAMS

Abstract

Subjects were assigned to one of two apprehension conditions (high versus low) based on their responses to fear of victimization items embedded in a more general questionnaire. Subjects within each level of apprehension were randomly assigned to view one of two versions of a made-for-TV movie. The original version concluded with the antagonist getting shot. The second version was identical to the first except that it ended with the protagonist being shot. Physiological responses indicated that apprehensive viewers reacted more intensely to the program than their less apprehensive counterparts. Importantly, there were no significant differentiations in physiological response to noncrime content seen by the same subjects. Evaluations of the program's endings were also more negative for apprehensive viewers. Apprehensive viewers also found the antagonist to be more reprehensible than their less apprehensive counterparts. These findings are interpreted as being consistent with the view that individuals who are apprehensive about crime and victimization find crime drama particularly exciting and that this excitement induces more intense evaluations of the show. The present findings are analyzed with respect to prior research and theory and are shown to be compatible with the selective exposure hypothesis (apprehensive viewers are particularly attracted to crime drama).

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