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This paper is part of a program of research designed to develop a self-report measure of individual differences in motivational reactivity. Theoretically, individual differences in appetitive and aversive activation have been linked to personality types (e.g., sensation seeking) and to various types of behavior (e.g., risky behavior, substance use, and abuse). The difficulty in measuring individual differences in motivational activation (usually assessed by measuring neurochemical levels) has made it difficult to test hypotheses that posit variations in Correspondence should be addressed to Annie Lang, some process (such as media use or media viewing) as a function of differences in motivational activation. This study reports an investigation into the construct validity of MAM the Motivational Activation Measure. MAM is measured by using participants' self-reported ratings of emotional experience in response to 90 emotional pictures to calculate two measures: positivity offset, an estimate of activation in the appetitive system, and negativity bias, an estimate of the speed of activation of the aversive system. Results show that the negativity bias measure correctly predicts greater activation in physiological measures associated with aversive activation (e.g., startle potentiation, corrugator activity, heart rate acceleration) while the positivity offset measure correctly predicts physiological and behavioral indicators of appetitive activation (e.g., inhibition of startle, zygomatic activation, greater heart rate decelerations, and faster STRTs). Recent theories of motivated cognition argue that individual differences in the activation and reactivity of the appetitive and aversive motivational systems modulate how individuals perceive, attend to, encode, store, and respond emotionally to mediated messages (Lang, 2005a & b;Lang, Simons, & Balaban, 1997). It's old news that negative media messages can elicit avoidance behavior in people while positive messages elicit approach behavior and that there is a great deal of individual variation in the strength of these responses. This variation is evident at the behavioral level where we have all seen people who go to great lengths to avoid negative stimuli while others seem to seek them out. What's new is the claim that this individual-level variation in motivational activation affects cognitive and emotional processing long before any behavioral outcome is observed.We already have good evidence that individual differences in motivational activation and reactivity are related to risky behavior, substance abuse, and emotional experience, but little is known about how or even if individual differences in motivational activation affect the processing of mediated messages. Given the ubiquity of emotion in media messages of all kinds (from the news, to advertising, to health communication, to edutainment, and, of course, entertainment) it behooves us to learn more about individual differences in how mediated emotional content alters cognitive processing and emotional respo...

An experiment, guided by the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing (LC4MP), manipulated players’ motivational activation states during play of a custom-built first-person shooter video game and examined memory of billboard advertisements embedded in the game’s peripheral content. In line with the LC4MP, a memory sensitivity test demonstrated that encoding of peripheral billboard advertisements was greatest during moderate-medium aversive activation and worst with moderate-high aversive activation. However, storage, measured using cued recall, was greater with moderate-medium appetitive activation when compared with other motivational states. The findings extend understandings of motivated cognitive processing of secondary advertising information in video game contexts.

In this article we report on the findings of a two-part project investigating contemporary issues in sexuality researchers' interaction with journalists. The goal of the project was to explore best practices and suggest curricular and training initiatives for sexuality researchers and journalists that would enhance the accurate dissemination of sexuality research results in the media. We present the results of a survey of a convenience sample of 94 sexuality researchers about their experiences and concerns regarding media coverage and a summary of the main themes that emerged from an invitational conference of sexuality researchers and journalists. In addition, we present some preliminary recommendations for training and best practices. Topics assessed include reporting accuracy; sex researchers' comfort with various topics, media, and journalists; researchers' perceptions of the purpose and content of articles; concern about the impact of media coverage; and training for sexuality researchers.