Media Exposure and Sensitivity

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS: EVIDENCE OF DESENSITIZATION?

By Erica Scharrer

This study explores whether amount of exposure to entertainment television violence, local newspapers, and local television news relates to reactions to reading news stories that recount violent events. Survey results from three regions in the United States show bivariate connections between average media exposure levels and each of three indicators of desensitization. Multivariate results provide partial support for the idea that heavy local news consumption—presumably due to the presence of violent content—can contribute to a blunted response to news stories regarding real-life violent events when individuals have low trait empathy.

While social scientists agree that violent television exposure leads to desensitization/ research cited to support this claim relies consistently on a small number of studies, many conducted decades ago. The current study examines whether individuals develop desensitized views of violence from their everyday interactions with various forms of media exposure. If this does, indeed, occur, it is a critically important issue because of the tendency of desensitization to thwart helping behaviors when one encounters aggression^ and to facilitate the learning of aggression.'

Violence in News Content Content analyses have established convincingly that violence is a frequent theme in news content in numerous media forms. Clark and Blankenburg* studied four prominent daily newspapers and found 17.6% of all news items across forty years contained violence, at a rate of 2.3 violent items per page. In more recent analyses, crime stories typically accounted for one-third of all newspaper items, and violent crime tended to be covered more prominently than non-violent crime.' Williams and Dickinson^ found that, on average, 12.7% of the "newshole" in the daily newspaper was devoted to crime, the majority of which (65%) involved violent crime against people. Finally, Sorenson, Manz, and BerF found that the Los Angeles Times covered 29% of all the homicides that occurred in Los Angeles County between 1990 and 1994. Erica Scharrer is an associate professor in the Department of Communication, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS

Literature Review

J&MC Quarterly Vol. 85, No. 2 Summer 2008 291-310 ®2007AEIMC

Crime is the most frequently included topic in both local" and national television news.' Dorfman and colleagues'" examined 214 hours of local television news and found that more time was allotted to violent crime stories than any other topic, with such stories appearing in the first or second segments of the newscast. Randall, Lee-Sammons, and Hagner" examined ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly newscasts over thirteen years and determined that crime stories averaged approximately sixty seconds per newscast. Finally, scholars have determined that during wartime, war coverage—which frequently, of course, includes violence— dominates the newshole.'^ Violent events pertaining to wars are also generally viewed as highly newsworthy."

Media Violence and Desensitization. Desensitization has been defined as a short-term, immediate drop in concern or sympathy about violence" as well as a long-term, incremental effect due to repeated violent media exposure.'^ Heavy television exposure has been associated with increased susceptibility to desensitization."" Because the current study's focus is on daily exposure to various media forms (including television), desensitization is considered here as a long-term cumulative process.

Desensitization is a complex phenomenon with physiological, cognitive, and affective roots and manifestations. The current study focuses on the cognitive and affective dimensions of desensitization, an approach with considerable precedent.'^ For example, research participants' self- reports of how disturbing, shocking, or troubling they found particular depictions have decreased following media exposure in past research.'* While individuals perceive less violence in media stimuli after repeated exposure, they also perceive violence to be commonplace and normative." In the present study, sensitivity to violence (or de-sensitivity) is presumed to be evident in self-reports of emotional responses to news items containing violence as well as in perceptions of the "normalcy" (or, conversely, the uniqueness) of the events covered in those news items.

These cognitive and affective elements of desensitization are also closely linked to its physiological aspects. In fact, the work of Zillmann^" suggests that over time and with repeated exposure, individuals experience habituation, no longer registering with increased heart rates or blood pressure the usual arousal that accompanies violence exposure. That habituation creates an affective or emotional tolerance for violence that is considered a key element of desensitization.

The Role of Empathy. Oliver^' has called for greater attention to individual differences in studies of media effects, and the current study examines the centrally relevant personality trait of empathy. Nezlek and colleagues^ have defined empathy as "the capacity to recognize, comprehend, and re-experience another person's emotions." Gender differences in empathy begin to emerge in adolescence.^

Empathy has been linked to both aggressive and desensitized outcomes stemming from violent media exposure. For instance, Bartholow, Sestir, and Davis^'' found that trait empathy mediated the relationship between violent video game exposure and aggression. Funk, Buchman, Jenks, and Bechtoldt^ found previously existing levels of empathy were

¡OURNALISM & MAS S COMMUN/C/ITÍON QUARTERLY related to aggression among children in responding to vignettes following exposure to video game violence. Degree of sensitivity toward violence has been linked with empathy toward victims,^' and empathy has also been found to be inversely associated with the enjoyment of fright and violence in media.^'

The link between empathy and desensitization is so close that some researchers have used empathy as an indicator of desensitization. For example. Funk and colleagues^** have used a combination of empathy and attitudes toward violence as "proxy measures" of desensitization stemming from violent video game use among young people. Similarly, empathy and sympathy for victims were measured along with negative affective responses (including anxiety and depression) to operationalize desensitization by Linz, Donnerstein, and Penrod^' following exposure to films featuring violence against women. In the current study, the potential problem of tautology in measuring empathy and desensitization separately is addressed by treating empathy only as a personality trait or individual difference.

HI: The more respondents are exposed to violent entertainment television, the less sensitive their emotional responses to violent news stories will be.

H2: The more respondents are exposed to local newspaper news, the less sensitive their emotional responses to violent news stories will be.

H3: The more respondents are exposed to local television news, the less sensitive their emotional responses to violent news stories will be.

Just as Van der Voorb"" and Thomas and colleagues^' found that violent television and film exposure led subsequently to decreased emotionality and "blunted" affect in response to subsequent violent media texts, high levels of exposure to various media forms containing violence are expected to do the same in response to news media texts featuring violence. Thus, according to desensitization theory, repeated exposure to violence in the news media creates a response in the audience member in which one more news story featuring violence registers less as a matter of concern, due likely to news media reliance on violence in stories pertaining to war and crime.

H4: The more respondents are exposed to violent entertainment television, the less likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as violent.

H5: The more respondents are exposed to local newspaper news, the less likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as violent.

Hypotheses and Theoretical Linkages

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVÎTY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS

H6: The more respondents are exposed to local television news, the less likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as violent.

In the Linz and colleagues^^ and Zillmann and Bryant^' studies, repeated exposure to a violent media stimulus was associated with declining perceptions of the amount of violence present in the stimuli. Therefore, in the current study it is predicted that high levels of average exposure to media containing violence will lead the individual to expect a certain degree of violence as normative, and therefore make him or her less likely to label the news reports used in the study as violent.

H7: The more respondents are exposed to violent entertainment television, the more likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as commonplace.

H8: The more respondents are exposed to local newspaper news, the more likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as commonplace.

H9: The more respondents are exposed to local television news, the more likely they will be to perceive the events covered in the news stories as commonplace.

Finally, Linz and colleagues^ and Potter^^ have argued that another essential element of desensitization is its ability to gradually convince individuals that violence is a common part of social life. Thus, hypotheses also predict levels of exposure to television violence and news will contribute to perceptions of the violent events covered in the news stories as commonplace.

RQl: Will trait empathy interact with exposure to these media forms to predict emotional responses to violent news stories?

RQ2: Will trait empathy interact with exposure to these media forms to predict perceptions of the news stories as violent?

RQ3: Will trait empathy interact with exposure to these media forms to predict perceptions of the events covered in the news stories as common rather than rare?

The interactions with trait empathy may occur because previously existing levels of empathy have been shown to shape responses to violent films, video games, and television programs.^' Highly empathetic respondents may consider the story from the perspective of the victim and therefore register a stronger and more profound response to the story.

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Sampling Procedure. A questionnaire was administered to 476 adults using a non-random quota sample drawn from three regions in the United States chosen to represent a diverse cross section of locales: urban Florida, rural Alabama, and rural/suburban Massachusetts. In each of the three sites, the goal was to collect at least seventy-five surveys from men and seventy-five from women, as well as to equally represent three age groups, 18-35, 36-53, and 54 and older. In each site, university students were asked to survey one or more year-round resident( s) of the community as part of a class lesson on research methods. The students were given an age and gender category that they needed to fulfill and were encouraged to ask residents of color and to avoid asking fellow students to complete the questionnaire. Within those parameters, the individual students recruited subjects to complete the questionnaires.

Respondents supplied contact information and one of every ten questionnaires was verified. A sampling period of three weeks in spring 2005 was used in all three sites. The 130 completed Florida questionnaires were combined with 158 questionnaires from Alabama and 188 from Massachusetts. All multivariate statistical results were analyzed for differences by region and none emerged. Items used for this particular study were placed among other items in an omnibus survey titled "Media in American Life." Importantly, each of the three main sets of measures for the current study was separated from the other by additional questions on a different subject pertaining to media. Thus, it is unlikely that the respondents connected these sets of items and therefore anticipated the purpose of this particular study.

Measures. Exposure to particular television programs was measured by providing a list of seventy-seven primetime television programs from the five major networks then broadcasting (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the WB, and UPN) and asking respondents to indicate how frequently each was watched (0 = never, 1 = rarely, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = regularly). Respondents could also write in up to four additional entertainment programs. The programs were then identified in five consecutive issues of TV Guide issued during the data collection stage (April 3 to May 1, 2005). If the program earned a "V" for "Violence" on two or more of the five days covered in the TV Guides or if its description contained two or more accounts of physical attempts committed by one character against another with the intent to harm, the program was considered to contain violence. Examples of words in the TV Guide synopses that resulted in categorizing a program as containing violence included "murder," "killing," "stabbed," and "shot to death." Twenty of the seventy-seven programs met one or both of these criteria. An additive scale indicating respondents' typical viewing of each of these particular programs (again from 0 "never" to 4 "regularly") was formed.

Respondents also indicated the average number of days per week they read a local newspaper as well as the average number of days per week they view a local television newscast.

MEDM EXPOSURE AND SENSÍTIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS

KesultS

296 Three actual news stories, complete with headline, byline, and copyright date, taken from the New York Times were provided to the respondent with the following instructions: Please read each of these brief news stories and then tell us about your reaction. These are actual news stories published in the New York Times that describe real events. The first story details the shooting death of a 21-year-old teacher from Orange County, California, resulting from a dispute with an ex-boyfriend. The second story told of the shooting death of a 24-year-old man from Pittsburg, Kansas, after he and his friends got into a fight with other young men at a fast food drive-through. The third and final news story is an account of the beheading of a 48-year-old Georgia man by "militants" in Iraq. The stories were chosen to represent violent crime and war, two of the most frequent sources of violence in news content, and were also chosen because they occurred in locations that would be equally distant for all of the respondents (see Appendix A for the complete news stories).

Following each story, respondents were asked a number of questions with semantic differential responses. First, they were asked "How does reading this news story make you feel?" with responses ranging from 1 = "not particularly distressed" to 5 = "extremely distressed." Next, they were asked "How shocking do you find this news story?" with responses ranging from 1 = "not particularly shocking" to 5 = "extremely shocking." They were also asked "How violent do you think the events described in this story are?" with responses of 1 = "not particularly violent" to 5 = "extremely violent," as well as "How common do you think the events described in this story are?" with responses of 1 = "not particularly common" to 5 = "extremely common." Next, they were given three forced choice measures to indicate their emotional response to reading the story. First, they chose between "Reading this story does not affect my emotions very much" and "Reading this story has a profound emotional effect on me." Second, they chose between "When I read a story like this, I find it hard to get it off my mind" and "When I read a story like this, I'm usually able to forget about it soon after." Finally, they chose between "Things like this happen all the time, and I can't get upset each time I read about them" and "Things like this are very rare and it upsets me each time I read about them." Both the semantic differential items and the forced choice items were original items created to tap into the respondents' sensitivity to the story. Lower responses on the semantic differentials and the ability to forget the story and not let it upset oneself were considered indicators of desensitization to the violence in the story.

The respondents were also given the eight-item Mehrabian and Epstein'^ emotional empathy scale to measure trait empathy. The scale has been previously tested for validity and reliability and includes such items as: "It makes me sad to see a lonely stranger in a group," "Seeing people cry upsets me," and "I am very upset when I see an animal in pain." Finally, a number of demographic descriptors were measured, including gender, race. Latino ethnicity, age, and education.

Descriptive Statistics and Data Reduction. Of the 476 respondents, 53% were female and 47% male; the average age was 39, with respondents

JouRNAUSM & MASS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY ranging from 19 to 94 years old; and 82% of respondents reported their race as white, 5.0% as black or African American, 3.6% as Asian or Asian American, 2.2% as multiracial, another 2.2% as a race not listed, and 6.1% did not answer the question. Of those reporting a race not listed, responses to a follow-up question included West Indian, Russian, Brazilian, and Sri Lankan. In a separate item, 7.3% identified themselves as Latino. About one-third of respondents (34.3%) had obtained bachelor's degrees, while 24.1% reported some college, 12.8% a master's degree, 12.6% a high school or equivalent education, and 10.9% an associate's degree.

The items comprising the trait empathy scale were combined into an additive index, resulting in a Cronbach's alpha reliability statistic of .60. Dropping one item from the index, "It's hard for me to see how some things upset people so much," raised the Cronbach's a to .63; therefore, that item was eliminated. In the index, higher scores indicate lower trait empathy. The resulting trait empathy index consisted of seven items, M = 16.89 (sd = 3.45). Next, like items were combined across each of the three news stories to collapse data into forms appropriate for testing the hypotheses. First, the twelve items specifically measuring emotional responses to the news stories (how distressing, how shocking, how likely the story would affect one's emotions, and how easily forgotten such an emotional response would be for each of the three stories) were reduced to an additive index (a = .85, M = 28.17, sd = 6.28). Second, the three items measuring perceptions of degree of violence in each of the three stories were reduced into an additive index (a = .75, M = 12.33, sd = 2.31), in which higher scores indicate perceptions of more violence. Finally, the six items that measured respondents' perceptions of events as common in the three news stories were also combined into a reliable additive index (a = .65, M = 12.88, sd = 2.91), in which higher scores indicate perceptions as more common.

Testing Hypotheses and Exploring Research Questions. Pearson's correlations were used to determine whether violent entertainment television exposure and the two types of local news media exposure were associated with responses to and perceptions of the news stories (see Table 1). Respondents with heavy exposure to the violent entertainment television programs reported weaker emotional responses after reading news stories that contained violence, thereby providing support for HI (r = -.16, p = .001). Exposure to violent entertainment television did not achieve statistical significance in its relationship with perceptions of the degree of violence in the news stories (r = -.09, p = .07) and perceptions of how common the events covered in the stories tend to be (r = .09, p = .07). Results were in the predicted direction, but because they failed to reach statistical significance, support cannot be claimed for H4 and H7.

The greater respondents' amount of local newspaper reading, the weaker their emotional response to reading the news items in question (r = -.20, p < .001) and the less likely they were to perceive the items to be violent (r = -.19, p < .01), supporting H2 and H5. H8 receives no support because local newspaper reading was not associated with percep-

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS 297

TABLE 1 Correlation Matrices, N = 435-461

Emotional Responses Perceptions of Perceptions as to News Items Violence Common

Trait Empathy (Reverse Coded) -.28*** -.29*** -.13**

TV Violence Exposure -.16** -.09 .09

Local Newspaper Exposure -.20*** -.19**

Local TV News Exposure -.15** .05 .15**

TV Violence x Empathy -.17* .07 -.08

Local Newspaper x Empathy -.16** .05 -.02

Local Television News x Empathy .07 -.04 -.12*

* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 tions of how common the events in the story were perceived to be (r = .04, n.s.).

Finally, respondents with high levels of local TV news viewing reported weaker emotional responses to the news stories (r = -.15, p < .01), supporting H3. H9 also receives support; respondents with higher levels of local television news viewing were more likely to perceive the events in the news stories as common rather than rare (r = .15, p < .01). H6, on the other hand, was not supported. Amount of local TV news viewing was not related to perceptions of amount of violence in the stories (r = .05, n.s.).

As a first step to explore the research questions, Pearson's correlations determined whether trait empathy correlated with the responses to the news reports. Empathy was negatively correlated with emotional responses to (r = -.28, p < .001) and perceptions of violence in the stories (r = -.29, p < .001), so that higher trait empathy was associated with greater emotional response to the stories and stronger perception of violence within (recalling that higher scores on the empathy scale indicate less trait empathy), as would be expected. Trait empathy was also negatively correlated with perceptions of the events covered in the stories as common (r = -.13, p < .01), so that high empathy individuals perceived the events in the story to be more common than rare. This last result goes against what would logically be predicted for empathy.

As a second step, Pearson's correlations were examined for the interaction terms for empathy and the three types of media exposure. The interaction between entertainment television violence exposure and trait empathy was significantly related to emotional responses to the news items (r = -.17, p < .05), as was the interaction between local newspaper

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TABLE 2 Hierarchical Regression Equations

Dependent Variable

Emotional Emotional Emotional Perceps. Perceps. Responses Responses Responses of Violence Common ß ß ß ß ß Block 1 Gender (1 = female) .06 .08 .06 -.06 -.19' Race (1 = of color) -.05 .01 -.06 -.19' .04 Latino? (1 = yes) .20' .16» .19' .16» -.02 Education -.14» -.17' -.15» -.02 .12° Age .23' .21' .24' .13° -.10'^ R2 Change .15' .15' .14' .06' .09' Block 2 TV Violence Newspaper TV News Newspaper TV News Media Exposure -.36 -.42 -.05 -.01 .51'^ Trait Empathy -.20» -.38' -.30» -.24» .24° R^ Change .07' .07' .06' .05' .02° Block 3 Media Exposure x -.24 .54» .08 .08 -.64° Empathy Interaction R2 Change .00 .01° .00 .00 .02° Total R^ .22 .23 .21 .10 .12 Adjusted R^ .20 .21 .19 .09 .10

N 357 362 365 396 353

Note: These are the final, standardized ßs. '^ p < .10, " p < .05, " p < .01, ';? < .001. exposure and trait empathy (r = -.16, p < .01). The interaction between local TV news exposure and trait empathy was associated with perceptions of how common the events in the story were (r = -.12, p < .05). Therefore, respondents' typical amounts of exposure to these media forms appear to work in concert with their level of trait empathy in terms of their responses to the violent news stories.

Finally, hierarchical regression tests were run to explore the role of demographic variables and determine whether the significant bivariate relationships that emerged in the Pearson's correlations remain (see Table 2). In the first step, dummy coded gender (1 = female), race (1 = person of color). Latino ethnicity (1 = Latino), education, and age were entered. In the second step, the media exposure variable in question (entertainment television violence, local newspaper, or local television news) was entered, as was trait empathy, as individual (main effects) variables. In the third step, the interaction between the media exposure variable in question and trait empathy was entered. To correct for inter-

MEDM EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS collinearity, the interaction term was kept out of the equation until the final step.

The first hierarchical regression test employs emotional responses to the news stories as the dependent variable and explores entertainment television violence as a! predictor. The final standardized Betas are reported here and in the table,i while significant demographic variables will be analyzed collectively below. Exposure to violent entertainment television approaches but does not achieve significance as a predictor of emotional responses after taking the additional variables into account (ß = -.36, p = .14), yet trait empathy retains statistical significance {ß = -.20, p < .01). Finally, when entered in the third step, the interaction between entertainment TV violence exposure and trait empathy is not a significant predictor of emotional responses to the stories (ß = -.24, n.s.). Thus, trait empathy exerts a stronger influence than entertainment TV violence on emotional responses—with high empathy individuals having a stronger emotional response than low empathy individuals—and does so independently rather than in concert with exposure.

The next model also employs emotional responses to the news stories as the dependent variable and isolates local newspaper exposure rather than entertainment television violence exposure as the key variable. In the second step, exposure to local newspaper news does not meet standards for statistical significance as a main effects predictor (ß = -.42, p = .16) while trait empathy easily surpasses such standards {ß = -.38, p < .001). Therefore, main effects results show heavy newspaper exposure suggests and high empathy definitively predicts greater emotional responses. The interaction between trait empathy and exposure to local newspaper news is statistically significant when entered in the last step (ß = .54, p < .05). '

Post-hoc subgroup analyses were performed to interpret the interaction, dividing the sample among those low (33% of the sample), moderate (an additional 34%), and high (the remaining 33%) on trait empathy, and then looking at correlations between emotional responses to the stories and local newspaper ,use in each group. Such a correlation is significant only in the lowest trait empathy group, r = -.34 {p < .001), suggesting that among those low in trait empathy, higher newspaper use is more likely to predict reduced emotional responses.

Local television news exposure is explored in the next regression equation, and emotional responses to the news stories again serves as the dependent variable. Entered in the second step, the trait empathy index is a significant main effects predictor {ß = -.30, p < .01), whereas exposure to local television news is not (ß = -.05, n.s.). Finally, the interaction between local TV news exposure and empathy when entered in the third and final step fails to achieve statistical significance (ß = .08, n.s.).

In the next regression equation, perceptions of the degree of violence in the news stories is the dependent measure, and the role of local newspaper reading is, once again, explored. In this case, neither the main effect of exposure to local newspapers (ß = -.01, n.s.) nor the interaction between such exposure and trait empathy (ß = .08, n.s.) are significant predictors of perceptions of violence in the stories after accounting for the preceding

JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY variables, whereas trait empathy as a main effect achieves statistical significance iß = -.24, p < .01).

The final regression equation employs the perception of the events in the stories as common as the dependent variable and explores the role of local TV news exposure. In this test, exposure to local television news approaches standards for statistical significance as a main effects predictor iß = .51, p = .08) while trait empathy surpasses such standards (ß = .24, p < .05). This suggests that, as main effects, both variables predict perceptions of the events as common (again recalling that higher scores on the empathy index indicate less trait empathy). Finally, the interaction between local television news and trait empathy significantly predicts perception of the events as commonplace {ß = -.64, p < .05). The same subgroup analysis as performed above for the prior significant interaction was used here, with results showing a significant correlation between television news exposure and perceptions of the events in the story as common only among the one-third of the sample lowest in trait empathy, r = .27, p < .01.

This study has explored the potential for news and entertainment UtSCUSStOtt media exposure to be associated with desensitized responses to actual violent events as encountered in the news. In doing so, it has furthered the theoretical explanation for desensitization as occurring through the long-term development of emotional tolerance, in which individuals become inured through repeated exposure to violence, ultimately registering a diminished physiological response as well as a higher threshold at which to label something as violent and a greater tendency to think of violence as simply part of the everyday fabric of society.^^

Evidence of significant bivariate relationships between typical levels of media exposure and such responses does, indeed, emerge from the data, suggesting blunted emotional responses to violence as desensitization theories suggest.-'' Use of some of the media forms in question (local newspaper and local television news, respectively) was also associated with being less likely to perceive the events covered in the stories as violent, suggesting habituation to or tolerance of violence'"' and perceiving the events in the news stories as common,'" two additional indications of desensitization that likely stem from the prevailing role of violence in the news.^^ Despite this initial support, however, in the hierarchical regression tests, no media variable held up as a significant main effects predictor of any of the three indicators of desensitization after accounting for demographics and trait empathy, although some approached significance and were arrayed in the predicted direction.

Yet, in two of the five tests, the media exposure variable did interact with trait empathy, an important variable in violence studies,*^ to predict responses to and perceptions of the stories. Local newspaper exposure interacted with empathy to predict emotional responses and local television news interacted with empathy to predict perceptions of the events in the story as common, even after controlling for demographics and for the main effect of trait empathy. The post hoc follow-

MEDM EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE IN NEWS REPORTS up results suggest low empathy in individuals may act in connection with heavy exposure to local news sources to result in a desensitized response to real violent events as encountered in the news. Indeed, the central role of trait empathy is a key theoretical contribution of this research which suggests this individual difference has an important role in determining which among media audience members are most likely to experience desensitization. Those with a strong capacity to consider another's feelings and point of view** are possibly more resistant to desensitized reactions to news accounts.

Interesting resiilts emerged regarding the role of the demographics of the respondents in predicting their responses to and perceptions of the news stories. It is rather surprising that women in the sample were no more likely to find the stories to be disturbing, shocking, and emotionally impactful than men, considering gender differences in empathy''' and in tolerance for or enjoyment of violence.""^ Also somewhat surprising is that those with less education had stronger emotional responses to the stories compared to those with more education. This may be due to the less educated not having developed a more jaded view of the world. Older respondents were also more likely than younger to have strong emotional responses, perhaps explained by the cynicism of youth. Finally, Latino ethnicity was consistently associated with stronger emotional responses to the news stories.

There are a number of limitations to this study that should be considered when interpreting its results. First, since data were collected via survey, no claims of, causation can be made. However, the nature of the procedure in which respondents were asked to first read and then respond to three news stories makes the reverse causation explanation very unlikely. A second limitation is that it is possible that self-reports of emotions are inaccurate and may be shaped by social desirability or other biases. Third, the sample is not representative, and, therefore, one cannot generalize from these results. As seen in Appendix B, the sample overrepresented white and underrepresented black respondents and overrepresented those with more education. Fourth, no attempts were made to control order effects. Fifth, the trait empathy scale and the degree of rareness measure were both only marginally reliable indexes. Despite these drawbacks, the results of this study suggest that heavy daily doses of news can be associated with weaker emotional responses and perceptions of these types of events as common upon reading about real-life violent events from newspaper excerpts among those low in empathy. The potential for not just "extreme" violent media forms such as horror films but rather daily exposure to ordinary news media outlets to contribute to a blunted response to violence in some individuals is profoiind. The consequences of those effects for aggressive behavior, for intervening as a bystander to a violent event, and even, perhaps, for support (or lack of concern) for war, the death penalty, and other violent phenomena should be the focus of future research.

Appendixes and Notes foilow.

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APPENDIX A News Items Used as Stimuli

HEADLINE: Victim's Words Open O.C. Trial; An ominous diary entry of the Placentia woman is read as the murder trial of her ex-boyfriend begins. BYLINE: Claire Luna, Times Staff Writer Copyright 2004 The New York Times, All Rights Reserved

"He's gonna kill me," Sarah Jennifer Rodriguez wrote in her journal on March 27, 2003, hours after her ex-boyfriend allegedly tried to strangle her. The next day, after handing him a restraining order, she wrote: "He told me I didn't want to do that, that I was just making it worse for myself."

Two weeks later, the 21-year-old Placentia preschool teacher's aide was dead, shot as she drove home from McDonald's with her new boyfriend. The two planned to have a quick take- out dinner before going to Bible study.

In his opening statement Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis Conway read passages from Rodriguez's diary to show jurors how Richard Joseph Namey's escalating anger drove him to stalk and kill his ex-girlfriend.

Namey, 27, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered Rodriguez and tried to kill her boyfriend, Matthew Reid Corbett of Westminster, then kidnapped a driver in Santa Ana and stole his car.

BODY: A 24-year-old Pittsburg man was shot and killed early Saturday after he and his friends got into a fight in the drive-through area of a fast-food restaurant.

After his shift Saturday night as a cook at Snooker Pete's Bar & Grill in Pittsburg — where his father, Tom, was working as a waiter — Eric Lewis went to hang out with friends, his father said.

At 3 a.m., they pulled into the drive-through at the Jack in the Box on California Avenue, and a light brown Ford Aerostar minivan pulled in behind them. According to police, three occupants of the van got into a verbal, then physical, confrontation with Lewis and his two friends.

It was unclear from police accounts what the fight was about or whether the two parties knew each other.

The suspect returned to the van, retrieved a shotgun and shot Lewis once in the stomach. He was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where he died. In addition to his part-time job at Snooker Pete's, Eric Lewis also worked part-time installing modular office furniture. He liked to play basketball and bowl.

HEADLINE: THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ; Second Beheading Reported; Militants say they killed another American. Iraqi official says a female prisoner will be freed, but denies link to kidnappers' demands. BYLINE: Ashraf Khalil, Times Staff Writer Copyright 2004 The New York Times, All Rights Reserved

Appendix A cant, next page

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE ;N NEWS REPORTS JQ¡

Appendix A cont.

BODY: Militants said Tuesday that they had beheaded a second American hostage in as n:iany days and threatened to kill a British captive, increasing pressure on President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to confront a recent wave of kidnappings of foreigners in the Iraqi capital.

The kidnappers had demanded the release of all female Iraqis being held by the United States, and a Justice Ministry spokesman said this morning that the Iraqi government had decided to release one of the two women known to be held!

The spokesman, Noori Abdul Raheem, denied that the decision to grant bail to Rahib Rasheed Taha —nicknamed "Dr. Germ" for her biological weapons research—had anything to do with the kidnappers' demands. He gave no alternative explanation for the decision but said her case had been under review for some time.

The kidnapping group, Jamaat al Tawhid wal Jihad, announced on a website Tuesday that it had killed Jack Hensley, a Marietta, Ga., man who would have turned 49 today. The announcement came almost 24 hours after a grisly video on the Internet depicted the beheading of Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, a Michigan native who was ¡among three construction contractors abducted Thursday from their Baghdad home.

On Tuesday, the FBI confirmed that Armstrong's body had been recovered, but declined to provide details.

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APPENDIX B

Census Figures (from year 2000) for the Population Compared to Sample Ciiaracteristics for Each Data-Gatiiering Site Alabama Site

Age 65 Years Old or Older

Median

Race White Black

American Indian Asian/Asian American Other Race

2 or More Races Ethnicity Hispanic/Latino Gender Females

Education High School Graduates College Graduates

Florida Site

Age 65 Years Old or Older Median

Race White Black American Indian Asian/Asian American Other Race 2 or More Races

Ethnicity Hispanic / Latino Gender Females

Education High School Graduates College Graduates

Massachusetts Site

Age 65 Years Old or Older Median

Race White Black American Indian Asian/Asian American Other Race 2 or More Races

Population

11.3% 32 years old

29.3% 0.2% 0.9% 0.6% 0.8% 1.3%

11.3% 33 years old

26.7% 0.3% 2.9% 5.4% 2.5%

6.6% 22 years old

79.3% 5.1% 0.2% 9.0% 2.9% 3.3%

Sample

60 years or older 8.3% 37 years old 88.2% 5.9% 0.0% 3.3% 3.2% 2.6%

60 years or older 4.0% 31 years old

8.0% 0.9% 3.6% 6.3% 3.6%

100.00% 36.2%

60 years or older 2.9% 43 Years Old

91.2% 2.2% 0.0% 3.8% 1.6% 1.1% Difference

-3.0% +5 years

+20.1% -23.4% -0.2% +2.4% +3.2% +1.8%

+14.5% +4.9%

-7.3% -2 years

+16.6% -18.7% +0.6% +0.7% +0.9% +1.1%

+17.8% +8.0%

-3.7% +21 years

+11.9% -2.9% -0.2% -5.2% -1.3% -2.2%

Appendix B cont. next page

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND SENSITIVITY TO VIOLENCE ;N NEWS REPORTS

Appendix B cont.

Populati on Sample Difference Ethnicity Hispanic/Latino 6.2%' 2.3% -3.9% Gender Females 52.0% 50.3% -1.7% Education High School Graduates 95.1% 96.7% +1.6% College Graduates 68.7% 52.8% -15.9% Sources: http: / / quickfacts.census.gov / qfd /states /01 / 0177256.html, http://tuscaloosa.areacormect.com/statistics.htm, http: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Tuscaloosa,_Alabama, http://en.wild pedia.org/wiki/prlando,_Florida, http: / / quickfacts.census.gov / qfd / states /12 / 1253000.html, http: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Amherst,_Massachusetts, http: / / www.epodunk.com / cgi-tíin / popinf o.php?loclndex=2851, http: / / censtats.census.gov/ data ) MA /0602501501325.pdf

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