Influence of contextual information on observers' perceptions of actors' intentions to harm others

✍ Scribed by Kim D. Dorsch; W. Neil Widmeyer

• Book ID: 102656120
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 747 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0096-140X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2337(1996)22:3<183::aid-ab3>3.0.co;2-o

✦ Synopsis

Previous examinations of perceptions of aggressive behaviors have used static stimulus presentations (e.g., photographs or slides). This investigation examined the impact of varying amounts of geographical and temporal contextual information on observers' perceptions of actors' intentions to physically and psychologically (intimidate) harm others. Participants (51 elite ice hockey players) were randomly assigned to view one of three video-taped presentations showing eight ice hockey behaviors in either a) a dynamic mode with contextual information, b) a dynamic mode with no context, or c) a static, "freeze-frame" mode. MANOVA results showed that non-aggressive stimuli were perceived as less aggressive, and aggressive stimuli were perceived as more aggressive in dynamic presentations with context than in static presentations. Based on these findings, it is suggested that future research focussing on perceptions of aggressive behavior utilize a dynamic stimulus presentation containing context material.