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Arousal Theories
Arousal is a central concept in the analysis of moods and emotions, regardless of whether these experiences occur in actual social situations or are elicited by veridical or fictional media presentations. Although the conceptualizations of arousal show marked differences, some form of physical excitedness is consistently invoked as the primary determinant of the intensity of emotional experience and behavior. Much research attention has been given to the possibility of manipulating this intensity, especially in the context of media entertainment with its apparent agenda to maximize emotional experience. Theories of sensation seeking address the latent yearning for excessive excitement, especially among emotionally labile adolescents and young adults. Excitation-transfer theory, moreover, deals with the escalation of emotions, in particular with the exploitation of aversive emotions for the intensification of subsequent positive excitement, delight, exuberance, and exultation.
Arousal in Emotions and Moods
Arousal refers to the bodily condition of being roused, literally the experience of “shaking one's feathers.” In nonmetaphoric terms, being roused or aroused manifests itself in heightened overt and covert activity. Such states of acute arousal characterize all vital emotions, and the experience of these states is part of all strong feelings. Arousal is an essential component of pleasure and displeasure, sadness and happiness, love and hate, despair and elation, gaiety and dejection, rage and exultation, exhilaration and grief, frustration and triumph, merriment and fear, anger and joy, and other emotions of high experiential intensity. Although sexual activities are usually not included in the enumeration of emotions, they certainly have their place among acute emotions. The high arousal intensity associated with vital emotions is comparatively short-lived and is strongly focused on both causal circumstances and motivational implications.
Moods are considered affective states that are also associated with elevated arousal. In contrast to emotions, however, moods are characterized by lower arousal intensities that persist for longer periods of time. Additionally, whereas emotions are instigated by apparent causes and, in turn, instigate cause-determined actions, moods lack such focus and are marked by motivational diffuseness instead.
Individual differences in emotionality and moodiness can be pronounced, as can developmental differences. During childhood and adolescence, for instance, the control of impulsive emotions and lingering moods tends to be wanting, mostly because of developmentally lagging anticipatory and judgmental skills.
Conceptions of Arousal and its Function
In earlier theories of motivation and emotion, arousal was treated as a unitary force energizing behavior that receives direction by independent means. Behavior theory likened arousal to an engine that drives, but does not guide, overt actions. The necessary guidance was thought to come from impulses that, at any given time, were dominant in the habit structure, this structure being partly determined by instinct but mostly established through learning. Arousal or drive strength was not directly measured and thus remained a hypothetical construct.
Activation theory similarly construed arousal as the behavior energizer and held some form of cognition accountable for behavior guidance. In contrast to behavior theory, however, activation theory committed itself to measuring arousal strength. It focused on activities in the brainstem reticular formation. Measured in wave patterns and rhythms of the encephalogram, states ranging from coma through sleep, drowsiness, relaxed wakefulness, and alert attentiveness to strong, excited emotions were distinguished and used to map emotional intensity.
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- Pornography, Magazines
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- Electronic Games, Rates of Use of
- Electronic Games, Types of
- Electronic Games, Violence in
- Email Pen Pals
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- Instant Messaging
- Internet Bulletin Boards
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- Internet Use, Addiction to
- Internet Use, Age and
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- Internet Use, Gambling in
- Internet Use, Gender and
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- Internet Use, International
- Internet Use, Positive Effects of
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- Internet Use, Social
- Knowledge Gap
- Language, Impact of the Internet on
- Mobile Telephones
- Multi-User Dungeons/Domains (MUDs)
- Multimedia Toys
- Online Media, Agency and
- Online Relationships
- Personal Web Pages
- Pornography, Internet
- Regulation, Electronic Games
- Regulation, Internet
- Sex, Internet Solicitation of
- Sexual Information, Internet and
- Sticky Marketing
- Virtual Reality
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- African Americans, Media Use by
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- Entertainment-Education, International
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- Latina/os, Media Effects on
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- Manga (Japanese Comic Books)
- Native Americans, Media Use by
- Obscenity
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- Tobacco Advertising, International
- UNESCO Violence Study
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- Cognitive Development, Media and
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- Family Communication Patterns Model
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- Tweens, Media Preferences of
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- Advertising in Girls' Magazines
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- Body Image in Boys and Young Men
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- Boy Bands
- Cartoons, Gender Representation in
- Comic Strips, Gender Stereotypes in
- Computer Use, Gender and
- Contraceptive Advertising
- Contraceptive Information, Online
- Contraceptive Information, Television and
- Electronic Games, Gender and
- Engaged Resistance
- Fathers, Media Portrayals of
- Food Advertising, Gender, Ethnicity, and Age
- Gender Identity Development
- Gender Roles in Magazines
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- Gender, Media Use and
- Hip Hop, Female Performers of
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- HIV/AIDS, Media Prevention Programs and
- Internet Use, Gender and
- Magazines, Adolescent Boys'
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- Mothers, Media Portrayals of
- Music Listening, Gender Effects on
- Natural Experiments, Impact on Gender Roles
- Schemas/Scripts, Gender
- Schemas/Scripts, Sexual
- Sex in Television, Content Analysis of
- Sex in Television, Incidence and Themes
- Sex in Television, Perceived Realism of
- Sex, Internet Solicitation of
- Sex, Media Impact on
- Sexual Content, Age and Comprehension of
- Sexual Information, Internet and
- Sexual Information, Teen Magazines and
- Sexual Minorities, Portrayals of
- Sexual Risk and Responsibility, Portrayals of
- Sexualization of Children
- Sexualized Violence
- Soap Operas, Sexuality in
- Media Education
- Adult Mediation Strategies
- Cartoons, Educational
- Commercial Television and Radio in Schools
- Digital Literacy
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- Educational Television, History of
- Educational Television, Programming in
- Electronic Games, Positive Uses of
- Entertainment-Education in the United States
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- Language Learning, Television and
- Media Education Foundation
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- Body Image in Children
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- Cognitive Development, Media and
- Developmental Differences, Media and
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- Family Environment, Media Effects on
- Fantasy, Media Effects on
- Fear Reactions
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- Imagination, Effects of Television on
- Interactive Media
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- Media Effects
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- Media Effects, History of Research on
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- Media, Meanings of
- Natural Experiments, Impact on Community Activities
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- Obesity
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- Peer Groups, Impact of Media on
- Physiological Arousal
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- Media Use
- African Americans, Media Use by
- Asia, Media Use in
- Bedrooms, Media Use in
- Child-Centered vs. Media-Centered Perspectives
- China, Media Use in
- Cognitive Development, Media and
- Depression, Media Use and
- Developmental Differences, Media and
- Divided Attention, Parallel Processing and
- Electronic Media, Children's Use of
- Europe, Media Use in
- Gender, Media Use and
- Globalization, Media and
- Immigrants, Media Use by
- India, Media Use in
- Indigenous Media
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- Information Processing, Active vs. Passive Models of
- Interactive Media
- Japan, Media in
- Latin America, Media Use in
- Latina/os, Media Use by
- Loneliness
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- Media Effects
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- Media Entertainment
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- Media, Meanings of
- Mood Management Theory
- Multitasking
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- Parasocial Interaction
- Peer Groups, Influences on Media Use of
- Peer Groups, Joint Use of Media in
- Physiological Arousal
- Selectivity
- Sensation Seeking
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- Movies
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- Cigarette Use in Television and Movies
- Disney
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- Pornography, Movies
- Pornography, X-Rated Movies and
- Regulation, Movies
- Music
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- Cigarette Use, Music Videos and
- Fan Cultures
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- Hip Hop, Ethnicity/Race in
- Hip Hop, Female Performers of
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- Hip Hop, Violence in
- Hip Hop, Youth Culture and
- Music Genres, Dance/House/Techno
- Music Genres, Heavy Metal
- Music Genres, Hip Hop
- Music Genres, History of
- Music Genres, Pop/Rock
- Music Listening, Age Effects on
- Music Listening, Gender Effects on
- Music Listening, Impact of
- Music Listening, Problem Behavior and
- Music Listening, Uses of
- Music Lyrics, Effects of
- Music Lyrics, Music Television and
- Music Videos, Amount of Viewing and
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- Peer Groups, File Sharing Among
- Radio, History of
- Radio, International
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- Raves
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- Public Policy
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- Anti-Drug Media Campaigns
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- Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 (CIPA)
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- Food and Beverage Advertising in Schools
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- Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
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- Regulation, Radio
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- Relationship Marketing
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- Telecommunications Act of 1996
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- Research Methods
- Experience Sampling Method (ESM)
- Media Journals
- Natural Experiments, Impact on Community Activities
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- Research Methods, Children and
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- Violence, Experimental Studies of
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- Violence, Natural Experiments and
- Television
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- Cigarette Use in Television and Movies
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- Contraceptive Information, Television and
- Coviewing
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- Drug Use, Depictions of
- Educational Television, Effects of
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- European Comparative Study
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- Family, Television Portrayals of
- Fantasy–Reality Distinction
- Forbidden Fruit Hypothesis
- Formal Features
- Gender Roles in Television Commercials
- Gender Roles on Television
- Imagination, Effects of Television on
- Language Learning, Television and
- Music Lyrics, Music Television and
- Music Videos, Amount of Viewing and
- Music Videos, Effects of
- National Television Violence Study
- News, Children's Exposure to
- News, Children's Responses to
- News, Portrayals of Children and Adolescents in
- Notel, Unitel, Multitel Study
- Profanity, Trends in
- Promotional Tie-Ins
- Reading, Impact of TV on
- Reality TV
- Regulation, Television
- Sesame Workshop
- Sex in Television, Content Analysis of
- Sex in Television, Incidence and Themes
- Sex in Television, Perceived Realism of
- Sitcoms
- Soap Operas, Content Analyses of
- Soap Operas, Effects of
- Soap Operas, Sexuality in
- Sports Television
- Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior
- Talk Shows, Children and Adolescents
- Television morality and Identification with characters on
- Television Rating Systems
- Television Rating Systems, Parental Uses of
- Television Violence
- Television Violence, Susceptibility to
- Television, Addiction to
- Television, Attention and
- Television, History of Children's Programs on
- Television, International Viewing Patterns and
- Television, moral messages on
- Television, Motivations for Viewing of
- Television, Occupational Portrayals on
- Television, Prosocial Behavior and
- Television, Prosocial Content and
- Television, Viewer Age and
- TV-Turnoff Week
- V-Chip (Violence Chip)
- World Summits on Children and Television
- Theories
- Agenda Cutting
- Agenda Setting
- Appreciation Index
- Arousal Theories
- Catharsis Theory
- Child-Centered vs. Media-Centered Perspectives
- Cognitive Script Theory
- Cuing and Priming
- Cultivation Theory
- Desensitization Effects
- Displacement Effect
- Excitation-Transfer Theory
- Externalizing Behavior
- Forbidden Fruit Hypothesis
- Formal Features
- General Aggression Model (GAM)
- Information Processing, Active vs. Passive Models of
- Interactivity
- Intertextuality
- Mean World Syndrome
- Media Practice Model
- Message Interpretation Process Model
- Physiological Arousal
- Priming Theory
- Schema Theory
- Schemas/Scripts, Aggressive
- Schemas/Scripts, Gender
- Schemas/Scripts, Sexual
- Selective Exposure
- Selectivity
- Social Class
- Social Learning Theory/Social Cognitive Theory
- Socialization and Media
- Super-Peer Theory
- Third-Person Effect
- Uses and Gratifications Theory
- Violence and Aggression
- Adult Mediation of Violence Effects
- Aggression, Advertising and
- Aggression, Electronic Games and
- Aggression, Movies and
- Aggression, Music and
- Aggression, Music Videos and
- Aggression, Television and
- Cartoons, Violence in
- Desensitization Effects
- Electronic Games, Violence in
- Fear Reactions
- General Aggression Model (GAM)
- Hip Hop, Violence in
- Movies, Violence in
- Music, Impact of Violence in
- Schemas/Scripts, Aggressive
- Sexualized Violence
- Television Violence
- Television Violence, Susceptibility to
- UNESCO Violence Study
- V-Chip (Violence Chip)
- Violence, Desensitization Toward
- Violence, Effects of
- Violence, Experimental Studies of
- Violence, Extent of and Responses to
- Violence, Historical Trends and
- Violence, Industry Stance on
- Violence, Longitudinal Studies of
- Violence, Marketing and
- Violence, Meta-Analyses of
- Violence, Natural Experiments and
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
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