Violent Films and Prosocial Behavior
This study attempted to further test the excitation transfer theory's applicability to prosocial behavior. Forty-two female college students were treated in either a positive or neutral manner by a confederate and then watched a violent, arousing film, a neutral, nonarousing film, or no film. Following this, participants were given the opportunity both to aggress against and reward the confederate. As predicted, individuals treated in a positive manner and shown the violent film were more generous in administering reward to the confederate than were similarly treated individuals exposed to the neutral film or no film.