1 Rap Lyrics and Antisocial Effects on Young People in Hong Kong Chau-kiu Cheung, Ph.D. Department of Applied Social Studies City University of Hong Kong July 2002

2 Objectives  Tapping the basis of support for rap and youth culture by  Testing the predictions of terror management theory about Unconscious approval of rap lyrics  Support for antisocial orientation Conscious self-defense  Against youth culture  Against rap songs  Trivialization of the harm of raps songs Increase of third-person effect judgment

3 Significance  Moral panic about rap songs (Bennett 1999) Lyrics as gratification (Christenson and Roberts 1998) Antisocial  Censorship (McLeod and Eveland 1997) Audio pornography (Lynxwiler and Gay 2000) Prejudice (Rudman and Lee 2002) Fragmentation (Bowman 1998)

4 Theory  Terror management theory (Janssen and Dechesne 1999; Pyszczynski et al. 1999; Solomon et al. 1991) Existential psychoanalytic theory Awareness of mortality Dual processes with increasing awareness  Unconscious self-defense Adherence to a worldview or group  Deviance, affiliation with deviant culture  Conscious self-defense Self-inflation  Distancing oneself from the deviant  Trivialization of harm, invulnerability

5 Past research  Awareness of mortality  Support for youth culture, counterculture (Janssen and Dechesne 1999) 53 Dutch high school students Content analysis of open-ended responses  Third-person effect (McLeod and Eveland 1997) Greater harm on age peers than on oneself

6 This study  Integration and extension Support and liking for youth culture and rap Third-person effects: harm and benefit Endorsement to antisocial rap lyrics  Uniqueness Mild induction: Test of death anxiety Passive, covert self-defense: closed-ended responses University students in Hong Kong

7 Design (Feb-Mar 2002)  Experimental conditions: terror induction Test of death anxiety at the beginning Test of death anxiety at the end  Participants: 54 first-year social science undergraduates Alternately assigned to the two conditions Computer-assisted testing  Measurement 5-point rating scales for balanced question items Acquiescence as average ratings Social desirability

8 Reliability of measures Third-person harmful effect judgment = Perceived harm on age peers – Perceived harm on self

9 Statements of antisocial orientation (rap lyrics)  Sometimes, you wish to say “XXX.”  “Mass media do not know how to report in a fair way.”  “It is the best ideal of no working.”  Wish to “work for nothing even though there is work to do”  “To take care of nothing but to wait for the pay date”  “The one you trust is really the incarnation of a devil.”  “Going home is handing a lamb to the tiger’s mouth.”  “The Chief Executive likes nothing but prestige.”  “Those wordy Legislators talk big (brag).”  “Cunning merchants cheat again.”  “Those incompetent officials are low in intelligence.”

10 Statements of liking of rap  Like rap culture  Like the rap band  Dislike rap music (reversed)  Dislike vulgar culture (reversed)

11 Statements of support for youth culture  Endorse youth culture  Endorse counterculture  Endorse nonsense culture

12 Statements of perceived harm of rap  How likely is listening to rap songs: Discharges your emotion onto others Makes you act on impulse Makes you dissatisfied with the government Makes you dissatisfied with the family Makes you quarrel with others Makes you talk foul language Makes you forget things Makes you put down your work Makes you distrust others Makes you difficult to concentrate

13 Statements of death anxiety (Chung et al. 2000)  The thought of death enters your mind.  The thought of death bothers you.  It makes you nervous when people talk about death.  You are not at all afraid to die. (reversed)  You do not fear dying a painful death. (reversed)  The sight of a dead body is not horrifying to you. (reversed)

14 Effects of terror induction Controlling for acquiescence, social desirability, and background characteristics in regression analysis

15 Effect of death anxiety Table 2: Metric and standardized effects of death anxiety Predictor MetricStandardizedEffect size Support for youth culture Liking of rap songs Antisocial orientation Perceived harm of rap songs on self Perceived benefit of rap songs to self Perceived harm of rap songs on age peers Perceived benefit of rap songs to age peers Third person effect regarding the harm of rap songs * Third person effect regarding the benefit of rap songs *: p <.05

16 Standardized effects of terror induction and death anxiety

17 Discussion  Effects of terror induction and death anxiety were independent and unique. Death induction only showed a weak negative effect (β = -.079) on death anxiety. Death anxiety had little effect on antisocial orientation.  Unlike past findings, terror induction made a negative effect, rather than a positive one, on support for youth culture. Participants were social science students who displayed low support and liking for youth culture and rap (m = 35.3 & 35.7).

18 Conclusion  Self-defensive responses to terror induction Unconscious radicalization  Increasing antisocial orientation or endorsement to rap lyrics Conscious trivialization—invulnerability  Decreasing the perceived harm of rap songs  Intensifying the third-person harmful effect of rap songs Conscious self-presentation  Decreasing liking of rap songs  Decreasing support for youth culture  Awareness of death as an antecedent to terrorism?