Predicting Cognitive and Behavioral Effects of Gangsta Rap

Abstract

This article comments on Johnson, Jackson, and Gatto (this issue) and Zillmann et al. (this issue), each of which demonstrates effects from a brief exposure to "gangsta rap" music videos. Results from both experiments suggest that the social themes contained in rap music videos can produce potent and predictable effects on viewers' subsequent impressions and social judgments through the mechanism 'of cognitive priming. A critical examination of the strengths and weaknesses of both experiments—and resultant limitations to generalizability—is offered.