Effect of Sex on Excitation Transfer and Recall of Television News

Abstract

The effect of transferred arousal from a prior television program was examined in relation to sex of subjects and their recall of television news. Subjects were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions which manipulated hedonic tone (positive/negative) and excitation (low/high) of prime-time television segments. Subjects then viewed a 5-min. television newscast and were tested on news item recall. An independent t test indicated that women recalled significantly more total news items than men. A two-factor analysis of variance showed that, in both low excitation conditions, men and women recalled more news items during time Phase 1 (0:00—1:59). Men and women recalled significantly more news items in both high excitation conditions during time Phase 2 (2:00—3:59). Women recalled significantly more news items than men during Phase 2 of the positive hedonic, low excitation treatment, and in both positive hedonic conditions, women recalled significantly more news items than men. Over-all, men and women recalled significantly more news items in the negative-hedonic, high-excitation treatment than in the other three conditions. Findings fit predictions derived from the excitation transfer theory and were attributed to differences in men's and women's perceptions of interpersonal relationships. Areas for further research were mentioned.