| Abstract: | After completing several scales measuring personality and past film viewing experiences, subjects ranked their preference for 13 film descriptions containing different degrees of graphic violence. Two versions of the 13 film descriptions differed in that one featured female victimization in 6 films while the second featured male victimization in the same 6 films. Results of regression analyses demonstrate that both the Machiavellian trait of deceit and past exposure to horror films were good predictors of a general preference for graphic horror. In addition, for male subjects only, the enjoyment of pornography was a strong predictor of the preference for graphic horror featuring the victimization of women, but not the victimization of men. The results are discussed in terms of rationales associated with the gratifications derived from viewing graphic honor in general and viewing the victimization of women in particular. |
