Film Preferences Under Conditions of Threat

Abstract

Upon hearing of an attack upon a coed either on campus (high threat) or across town (low threat), female nursing students showed greater preference for specific types of film content than did controls. Compared to this nonthreatened control group, subjects in both low and high threat conditions showed greater preference for film clips containing male against male aggression and sexually explicit material, but no greater preference for male against female aggression, information about attackers, comedy, or romantic sequences. Mood changes obtained on self-report scales suggest that such preferences reflect stimulus-seeking which may promote cognitive relabeling of negative affect to a more positive form among subjects under conditions of low threat.