Abstract
The effects on spectator hostility of viewing aggressive athletic contests were investigated using three diverse measures of hostility in a replication of the widely cited Goldstein and Arms (1971) Army-Navy football study. Male and female subjects were exposed to either stylized aggression (professional wrestling), realistic aggression (ice hockey), or a competitive but nonaggressive control event (swimming) in a before-after design. While the three measures of hostility yielded somewhat different results for the three events, general support was found for the earlier finding of increased spectator hostility as a result of observing aggression. Whereas hostility was shown to increase at wrestling and hockey, such increases did not occur at the swimming competition. Other aspects of mood change among spectators were also investigated. There was a blunting of the quality of interpersonal relations at the three events.
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