The Consequences of In-Your-Face Politics for Arousal and Memory

This chapter explores how emotional arousal is a common component of everyday experience. Arousal can be positive and/or negative, and it can vary greatly in its intensity. Importantly, arousal is a state of excitation that involves activation of the autonomic nervous system and heightened activity in both mind and body. Television has been viewed as particularly capable of prompting emotional arousal relative to print. Studies of media effects have focused primarily on the effects of television on arousal in the form of fear and aggression in response to violent media. The chapter uses highly controlled laboratory experiments to evaluate the consequences of close-ups and incivility for viewers' levels of emotional arousal and their memory of political television content.