The effects of suicide films on recipients' emotional and mental state, as well as the influence of censorship, was studied. Nonsuicidal subjects watched the original or a censored version of a suicide film or a drama without suicide. Data were collected by questionnaires. The viewing led to a deterioration of mood and an increase in inner tension and depression scores, but also to a rise in self-esteem and life satisfaction and to a drop in suicidality. There were no relevant differences between the film groups. The more a subject identified with the protagonist, the greater were the negative effects.

The authors investigated the impact of suicidality on identity work during film exposure. Adults with low suicidality (n = 150) watched either It's My Party or The Fire Within, censored versions of these films not depicting the suicide, or the control film that concluded with a non-suicidal death. Baseline suicidality was measured with questionnaires before the movie. Identity work and identification with the protagonist were measured after the movie. Suicidality was directly associated with identity work during film dramas depicting suicide methods. The reception of suicide-related media content seems to partially depend on personal suicidality. Potential implications for suicide prevention are discussed.

This study investigated the impact of film dramas on the emotional and cognitive state of recipients, as well as mediating effects of different modes of film reception. Furthermore, associations between the modes of reception and individual favored coping strategies were examined. One hundred fifty nondepressive and nonsuicidal adults living in Austria watched one of three films featuring the death of the main character. Data on the viewers’ mood, inner tensions, self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, suicidal tendencies, attitudes toward suicide, predominantly used modes of reception, and preferred coping strategies were collected with questionnaires that were handed out before and after seeing the movie. Results indicated that drama viewing was linked to both negative and positive effects: on the one hand, to a deterioration of mood as well as an increase of inner tensions and depression scores, and on the other hand, to a rise in self-esteem and life satisfaction as well as a drop in suicidal tendencies. The more a subject was involved in the film, the more pronounced were the negative impacts and the smaller were the positive reactions. The viewers’ preferred coping strategies were partly associated with the modes of reception: the more an individual preferred to seek social support when facing a problem, the more he or she identified with the drama’s protagonist and tried to find behavior patterns in the movie to improve his or her own life.

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Abstract. We investigated the effects of antiforeigner political advertisements on implicit and explicit stereotypes. While stereotypical associations may become automatically activated (implicit stereotypes), individuals can reject these thoughts and decide not to use them for an overtly expressed judgment (explicit stereotypes). We hypothesized that even if citizens negated stereotypical content, advertisements might still affect implicit stereotypes. This hypothesis was tested using an experiment where participants (N = 186) were exposed to zero, two, four, or six stereotypical advertisements. The results showed that stereotypical advertisements did not influence explicit stereotypes but did influence implicit stereotypes, even in critical recipients who negated the stereotypical content.