The influence of media coverage on responses to a hypothetical burglary scenario

Tal Jonathan, L.J. Alison, A. Long

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The present study examined whether media coverage was likely to have an effect on burglars' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to the offense. Questionnaires were distributed to 224 male students, who were asked to imagine that they had committed a “burglary under the influence of alcohol.” They were asked to express their thoughts, feelings, and possible actions, both before and after reading a newspaper article about the offense. A multidimensional scaling procedure identified 4 response themes: guilt, fear, forensic awareness, and pride. Two persuasion variables (inducing guilt and a hidden message) were found to have a multifaceted influence on the 4 themes. Implications for police use of the media as well as limitations of the study are discussed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)631-657
    Number of pages27
    JournalJournal of Applied Social Psychology
    Volume37
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2007

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