Effects of an opposite-gender companion's affect to horror on distress, delight, and attraction.

Abstract

We exposed male and female undergraduates to a horror movie in the presence of a same-age, opposite-gender companion of low or high initial appeal who expressed mastery, affective indifference, or distress. Measures were obtained for the subjects' affective reactions to the movie, the companion's physical appeal, the companion's personality traits, the companion's desirability as a working partner, and the subjects' tendency to acquiesce to apparently erroneous contentions on the part of the companion. We found that men enjoyed the movie most in the company of a distressed woman and least in the company of a mastering woman. Women, in contrast, enjoyed the movie most in the company of a mastering man and least in the company of a distressed man. The intensity of distress in response to the movie followed the same pattern. Mastery did not enhance the female companions' physical appeal. However, it significantly enhanced that of the low-appeal male companion. This companion also benefited from the display of mastery in that pronounced positive traits were ascribed to him. On the female side, in contrast, it was the highly attractive companion who showed a comparable gain in positive traits. The display of distress in response to horror reduced the desirability of both male and female companions as working mates. In working together, female subjects showed a clear tendency to acquiesce to assertions by their male companions who had shown mastery of horror. The findings were considered consistent with predictions from a gender-role socialization model of affect.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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