Violent Music
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drivers’ cognitive states when confronted with an aversive driving vignette (e.g., being
cut off by another driver)? This longitudinal study explores three incongruous forms of
music. Specifically, respondents were exposed to violent music with violent lyrics,
violent music with no lyrics, and non-violent music with non-violent lyrics. These three
conditions were compared with respondent’s baseline negative-valence thoughts, driving
anger, and state anger responses.
Most research focuses on the demographic descriptions of aggressive drivers
(e.g., Hauber, 1980) and the causal factors of aggressive driving (e.g., Arnett, Offer, &
Fine, 1997). With minimal empirical exploration into the priming effects of music (e.g.,
Quick, 2002), mass media scholars must begin to explore music effects on cognition for
drivers.
Given the salience of driving anger within society, DePasquale, Geller, Clarke,
and Littleton (2001) encouraged the need to find measures for identifying drivers prone
to drive aggressively. Identifying aggressive driving predictors is a noble objective, but
we must also identify stimuli that prime driving anger. In articulating the case that violent
music primes negative thoughts while simultaneously increasing driving and state anger,
whereas non-violent music primes positive thoughts while decreasing driving and state
anger, the researcher first illuminates the cognitive process experienced when confronted
with an aversive driving condition using Berkowitz’s (1993) cognitive neo-
associationistic model. Additionally an examination is given to short-term media effects
using Jo and Berkowitz’s (1994) priming effects theoretical perspective. Jo and
Berkowitz’s theoretical model is tested using a within-subject longitudinal design
measuring the effects of music on cognition and reported driving anger.
Convention