[The effects of media violence on affective, cognitive, and physiological reactions of viewers]

The present study investigated the effects of media violence on affective, cognitive, and physiological reactions of viewers. Eighty undergraduate student (male = 40, female = 40) participated in the experiment. First, subjects were exposed to one of four violent films whose levels of violence and entertainment were based on ratings taken in a previous study (Yoshida & Yukawa, 1996). Immediately after viewing the film, subjects described their thoughts which occurred during watching the film and rated their affective reactions toward the film. Heart rate and eyeblink rate as indicators of physiological arousal were measured continuously before, during, and after the film. Results showed that the film high in violence elicited more negative and empty-powerless affects, while the film high in entertainment evoked more positive affects.