Emotional Responses to Violent Media as a function of differential Belief States

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to determine whether belief states can regulate emotional responses to violent media. In particular, this study asks whether perceived reality of the stimulus (real vs. fictional) alters both visceral and behavioral responses to violent stimuli. The literature on desensitization of emotional and empathetic responses to violent media, while vast, fails to accurately explore how our own beliefs about stimulus reality can alter the desensitization paradigm. In contrast, equally prolific literature on emotion regulation suggests a number of theoretical models that take into account belief states in their assessment of emotional output. This study explores the dialogue between these two literatures, and seeks to ask how regulatory mechanisms may affect physiological, cognitive, and behavioral states that are vital components of the desensitization paradigm.