Effect of movie violence on mood, stress, appetite perception and food preferences in a random population

Abstract

Very little is known about media violence and its effect on appetite and eating behavior. The present study aims at investigating the immediate acute effect of violence in movies on mood, stress, appetite perception and food preferences in a real-life setting. A total of 447 subjects (F=202; M=239) completed a validated visual analog scale to record their subjective feelings of hunger, satiety and desire to eat immediately at their way out of any of the three types of movies (horror, romance/comedy and drama/action). There was a significant difference between the three movie categories for the tensed feeling (P=0.003), anxiety (P=0.021), the sleepy feeling (P=0.000) and a preference to eat something sweet (P=0.019). Horror/violence movie types affected the subject by making him feel more stressed and anxious; however, romance made him feel sleepier and less tensed. Movie types did not seem to affect hunger or appetite directly, but rather triggered some food preferences.