Reading news to regulate mood

In some circumstances, men who are pissed off purposefully read news articles that will feed their anger while women select articles that will chill them out. Researchers at Ohio State University report that men pick negative stories to "sutain their anger until their opportunity to get even." The researchers gave 86 college students an impossible computer task to anger them while promising them the opportunity to evaluate the experimenter later on. Then they were asked to evaluate the content in an online magazine by picking articles to read which interested them. From Ohio State Research Communications:

“For women, it is not seen as appropriate for them to retaliate when they're angry, but it is OK for men. And that's reflected in their selection of media content,” said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, co-author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.

“This shows that even our news consumption is not motivated just by information concerns. We use news to regulate our moods...."

Overall, the findings suggest people may sometimes use their media choices to put them in the right frame of mind for upcoming events. “You want to make sure your mood fits whatever situation you're in,” Knobloch-Westerwick said. “Media choices can help you do that.”

For example, commuters facing a stressful drive home from work may choose calming, relaxing music on the radio.

“Our media use is not just for entertainment or information. It can also be functional, helping us to regulate our moods for what we're doing.”

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