Page 302 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

11. FRIGHT REACTIONS TO MASS MEDIA 291

informing them that Martians were taking over the United States (Cantril,
1940). Thus, if they believed what they heard, they justifiably felt that their
own lives and indeed the future of their society were in great peril.
But in typical situations in which people are exposed to mass media
drama, the audience understands that what is being depicted is not actu-
ally happening; in many cases, they know that it never did happen; and in
some cases, they know that it never could happen. Objectively speaking,
then, the viewer is not in any immediate danger. Why, then, does the
fright reaction occur? Although fright responses to media presentations
are undoubtedly the result of the complex interaction of a variety of
processes, a preliminary explanation for this phenomenon is proposed,
based on the notion of stimulus generalization (see Pavlov, 1927). In con-
ditioning terms, if a stimulus evokes either an unconditioned or condi-
tioned emotional response, other stimuli that are similar to the eliciting
stimulus will evoke similar, but less intense emotional responses. This
principle implies that, because of similarities between the real and the
mediated stimulus, a stimulus that would evoke a fright response if expe-
rienced firsthand will evoke a similar, but less intense response when
encountered via the mass media. In order to explore the implications of
this explanation, it should be instructive to identify major categories of
stimuli and events that tend to induce fear in real-life situations and that
are frequently depicted in frightening media productions, and, second, to
delineate the factors that should promote or reduce the viewer’s tendency
to respond emotionally to the mediated stimulus.

Stimuli and Events that Generally Produce Fear

Based on a review of the literature on the sources of real-world fears and
on the effects of frightening media, three categories of stimuli and events
that tend to produce fear in real-life situations and that occur frequently
in frightening presentations are proposed: (a) dangers and injuries,
(b) distortions of natural forms, and (c) the experience of endangerment
and fear by others. These categories are obviously not mutually exclu-
sive: On the contrary, a frightening scene usually involves more than one
of these categories. 1

1 These categories are also not considered exhaustive. Many theorists have proposed addi-
tional categories of stimuli that readily evoke fear, such as certain types of animals (especially
snakes; see Jersild & Holmes, 1935; Yerkes & Yerkes, 1936) and loud noises, darkness, and stim-
uli related to loss of support (see Bowlby, 1973). These categories are not discussed separately
here because it seems that in mass media productions, such stimuli tend to co-occur with dan-
ger or signal its imminence. For example, the snakes, bats, and spiders in horror films are usu-
ally depicted as poisonous as well as repulsive. Sudden loud noises, darkness, and the percep-
tion of rapid movement are often used to intensify the perceived dangerousness of situations.