Individual Differences in Coping with Stressful Mass Media An Activation-Arousal View

In this article, we summarize recent advances in the study of behavioral dispositions by detailing the activation-arousal framework. This approach locates the origin of behavioral traits in the activation and arousal systems and, consequently, it offers a more fundamental explanation of personality traits than is typically seen in the mass communication literature. In the interest of applying this view, we propose the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS) as a measure of an individual's tendency toward activation or arousal. Study I was conducted to test the prediction that scores on the MBSS would be related to the intensity of negative affect during a film segment from Nightmare on Elm Street. The results were encouraging in that the predicted relationship emerged between the MBSS and skin conductance responses. Study U was conducted to test the prediction that scores on the MBSS would be related to information-seeking of highly negative emotional information transmitted by the media when the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded. The results indicated support for this prediction. Implications for future research in mass communication are discussed.

[1]  John O. Greene,et al.  On Thinking and Doing: Cognitive Science and the Production of Social Behaviour , 1985 .

[2]  Joanne Cantor,et al.  Developmental differences in fright responses to a television program depicting a character transformation , 1986 .

[3]  H. A. Witkin,et al.  Field dependence and interpersonal behavior. , 1977 .

[4]  M. Fredrikson,et al.  Cortisol excretion during the defense reaction in humans. , 1985, Psychosomatic medicine.

[5]  K. Pribram,et al.  Arousal, activation, and effort in the control of attention. , 1975, Psychological review.

[6]  M. Fredrikson,et al.  Orienting and defensive reactions to phobic and conditioned fear stimuli in phobics and normals. , 1981, Psychophysiology.

[7]  E. N. Sokolov,et al.  Perception and the Conditioned Reflex , 1965 .

[8]  Suzanne M. Miller.  Monitoring and blunting: Validation of a questionnaire to assess styles of information seeking under threat. , 1987 .

[9]  Joanne Cantor,et al.  Effect of Forewarning on Emotional Responses to a Horror Film. , 1984 .

[10]  P. A. Williamson,et al.  Asymmetric neural control systems in human self-regulation. , 1984, Psychological review.

[11]  R. Klorman,et al.  Individual differences in fear and autonomic reactions to affective stimulation. , 1977, Psychophysiology.

[12]  Developing a Scale to Assess Cognitive Responses to Frightening Films , 1986 .

[13]  W. Mischel.  Alternatives in the pursuit of the predictability and consistency of persons: Stable data that yield unstable interpretations. , 1983, Journal of personality.

[14]  Suzanne M. Miller,et al.  When is a Little Information a Dangerous Thing? Coping with Stressful Events by Monitoring Versus Blunting , 1980 .

[15]  The resistance of the closed mind to a novel and complex audio-visual experience. , 1966, The Journal of social psychology.

[16]  An action assembly approach to predicting emotional responses to frightening mass media , 1986 .

[17]  Suzanne M. Miller,et al.  Interacting effects of information and coping style in adapting to gynecologic stress: should the doctor tell all? , 1983, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  K. Pribram,et al.  Chapter III – The Neuropsychology of Attention: Emotional and Motivational Controls , 1980 .

[19]  H. Himmelweit,et al.  Continuities and Discontinuities in Media Usage and Taste: A Longitudinal Study , 1976 .