Film Preferences Following a Murder
- 1 January 1974
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Communication Research
- Vol. 1 (1) , 32-43
- https://doi.org/10.1177/009365027400100102
Abstract
Evidence from various sources suggests that, under safe conditions of exposure, people may show preference for potentially fear-inducing events. To test for the existence of this phenomenon, general attendance at a film depicting cold-blooded murder and at a control film were compared on the two days following the occurrence of a murder and on the same two days one week prior to the murder. Only attendance at the murder movie rose (89%) two days after the murder when compared with the same day a week before. Also, girls in the victim's dormitory showed a greater preference for the murder movie one week after the crime, whereas girls in a control dorm showed no preference. Theoretical interpretations were proposed to account for these findings.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Desensitization: Social and cognitive factors underlying the effectiveness of Wolpe's procedure.Psychological Bulletin, 1971
- Findings and Theory in the Study of Fear CommunicationsPublished by Elsevier ,1970