2006/01/01 by Silvia Knobloch‐Westerwick, Scott M. Alter · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Advertising #Aggression #Anger #Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression #Clinical psychology #Cognition #Consumption (sociology) #Hostility #Mass media #Media Influence and Health #Media consumption #Mood #Psychiatry #Psychology #Rumination #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2006.00003.x
openalex publication_date 2006/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Mood adjustment goals served to explain gender differences regarding media preferences. Before reacting to antagonism, females are likely to prevent aggression by dissolving aversive states through media consumption, whereas males could preserve aggression by choosing negative content. In a computerized procedure, participants (N = 86) were provoked by supervisor feedback to instigate angry moods. Half of the sample was led to anticipate a retaliation opportunity. In a purportedly separate study, participants were free to choose from online news while software unobtrusively logged their selective news exposure. The articles had been classified as positive or negative news in a pretest. When anticipating a retaliation opportunity, females spent more time reading positive news to dissipate their anger. Males expecting a retaliation opportunity spent more time on negative news to sustain their anger. Males’ generally lower news consumption, especially when anticipating a chance to retaliate, indicated anger rumination through news avoidance altogether.