Cynthia Hoffner

Young adults (N = 172) completed questionnaires that measured empathy, affective responses and exposure to frightening films, and perceptions of how aspects of scary content (suffering, danger, excitement, and a happy ending) affect enjoyment. Empathic concern was associated with less enjoyment of suffering, but more enjoyment of danger, excitement, and happy endings. Enduring negative affect was associated with higher personal distress and less enjoyment of suffering. Exposure to frightening films was associated with lower personal distress, more enjoyment of danger, and less enjoyment of happy endings. Interpretations of the findings are discussed.

Young adults read a news article about skin cancer that used a gain frame (e.g., using sunscreen keeps skin healthy) or a loss frame (e.g., not using sunscreen increases skin cancer risk), and included a personal exemplar (healthy or ill). Compared to a control group, both frames increased intentions to use sunscreen. Planned SPF was higher for men in the loss frame but was unaffected by framing for women. The framing manipulation had opposite effects on sun protection behaviors among individuals who were high versus low in perceived similarity to the exemplar. Overall, the gain frame was more effective for people who were high in similarity, whereas the loss frame was more effective for those low in similarity. In addition, individuals who felt more similar to the exemplar reported more personal risk in the loss frame but stronger intentions to use sun protection behaviors in the gain frame. Last, social comparison orientation was associated with more personal risk in the gain frame (suggesting upward comparison) but lower intentions to engage in sun protection behaviors regardless of the frame. Interpretations of the findings and implications for the use of exemplars in health messages are discussed.

This study explored the reasons people expose themselves to news depicting tragic events. A total of 376 undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires about their responses to news coverage of the events of September 11. The study examined the extent to which individual differences in empathy gave rise to news viewing motives (surveillance, reassurance, curiosity), and how these variables, as well as negative emotional responses (anger, sadness, fear), were related to news interest and exposure. Both empathy and emotional responses were associated in predictable ways with interest in news coverage and selective exposure to specific types of news stories (e.g., casualty news, positive news). The results demonstrate that considering affective motivations can enrich our understanding of how and why people use news media. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This study examined the role of emotion in the process of news diffusion following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Respondents reported both sadness and anger, but sadness was the predominant emotional response. Early learners reported more sadness, but emotional response was unrelated to the initial source of the news. Regarding interpersonal news diffusion, individuals who reported more sadness were more likely to pass the news on to others and spent more time discussing the event. Anger was associated with contacting a greater number of people. Individuals who contacted more people and spent more time in discussion reported stronger emotional (but not informational) motives for talking with others, and were more likely to say that they felt better after interpersonal contact. Overall, the findings suggest that interpersonal news diffusion and discussion function, in part, as ways to cope with emotional responses to news coverage.

Television regularly depicts work-related activities of fictional characters and is one of several important sources of occupational information for young people. However, no research appears to have examined the influence of televised occupational portrayals on economically disadvantaged youths, although television may be an especially important source of work-related information for this group. In telephone interviews, 132 economically disadvantaged young people named their favorite television character and the character’s job and rated their perceptions of this career and their wishful identification with the character. They also identified the job they would most like to have. Results show that the income and education levels of respondents’dream jobs are positively correlated with these attributes of the characters’ jobs. Wishful identification is higher for characters whose jobs had higher income, required more education, were seen as more realistic, and were perceived as having greater extrinsic values (e.g., benefits, respect).