Differential anxiety responses to television coverage of national threat si
tuations and terrorism in Israel were examined. A total of 237 participants
were evenly divided into two groups, each exposed to an experimental or co
ntrol condition. The experimental condition involved exposure to television
news clips of terrorism and threats to national security. The control cond
ition involved equivalent-length exposure to news clips unrelated to nation
al danger situations. Results supported the anxiety-inducing effect of the
experimental condition and indicated differential demographic and dispositi
onal responses to the footage according to gender, religiousness, and level
of dogmatism. These results support the powerful effect of the mass media
and advocate further exploration of links between media broadcasting of pol
itical violence and psychological processes.