Watching emotional movies: Affective reactions and gender differences

Previous studies have found that unpleasant film clips depicting mutilated bodies or injuries evoke a sustained heart rate deceleration which has been interpreted as reflecting a stimulus-specific aversive response or as increased orienting and attentional processing that varies with stimulus signif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of psychophysiology 2008-08, Vol.69 (2), p.90-95
Main Authors: Codispoti, Maurizio, Surcinelli, Paola, Baldaro, Bruno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Attention - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiac dysrhythmias
Cardiology. Vascular system
Emotion
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Galvanic Skin Response - physiology
Gender
Heart
Heart rate
Heart Rate - physiology
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Motion Pictures
Motivation
Orientation - physiology
Orienting
Photic Stimulation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reference Values
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
Sex Factors
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Summary:Previous studies have found that unpleasant film clips depicting mutilated bodies or injuries evoke a sustained heart rate deceleration which has been interpreted as reflecting a stimulus-specific aversive response or as increased orienting and attentional processing that varies with stimulus significance. Few studies, however, have examined cardiac changes during the viewing of high arousal pleasant films. To clarify this issue, the present study assessed evaluative, facial and autonomic reactions in both men and women during the viewing of highly arousing pleasant, as well as unpleasant, films. Results indicated a similar skin conductance increase and heart rate deceleration which were greater than those observed during the viewing of a neutral film. Compared to men, women rated both films as less pleasant and rated the unpleasant film as more arousing. The present findings suggest that sustained exposure to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli elicit similar cardiac orienting when stimuli are equated for subjective report of emotional arousal.
ISSN:0167-8760
1872-7697
DOI:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.03.004