Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 112
In comparison with the homicide script results, the aggression script elicited high levels of
anger in Matthew that increased to an extreme level by the incident stage and remained at
this elevated level for the remainder of the script. The pattern of his anger in reaction to the
aggression script mirrored that of the pattern of his anxiety to the same script. Neutral
imagery did not produce feelings of anger in him.
Between-script comparisons indicated elevated ratings of anger to aggression imagery at all
stages relative to the neutral script. Elevated ratings to the homicide script also were
evident at the scene, approach, incident, and consequence stages, but not at the resolution
stage, where ratings of anger were comparable with the neutral script.
Figure 5. Matthew’s ratings for the VAS not angry-angry for each stage of the
three scripts.
Figure 6 presents the ratings for Matthew for each stage of each script for the VAS real-
unreal. Homicide imagery was associated with Matthew‘s feelings of unreality that increased
from a high level at the scene stage to an extreme level at the incident stage, with these
feelings not abating for the remainder of the homicide imagery script stages.
Ratings of feelings of unreality were at a moderate level throughout the aggression script,
with the exception of a peak at the incident stage when ratings increased to a moderately
high level that was still lower than the lowest rating associated with the homicide script.
Neutral imagery did not elicit feelings of unreality in Matthew.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Scene Approach Incident Consequence Resolution
Stage
Murder
Aggression
Neutral
Not
angry-
In comparison with the homicide script results, the aggression script elicited high levels of
anger in Matthew that increased to an extreme level by the incident stage and remained at
this elevated level for the remainder of the script. The pattern of his anger in reaction to the
aggression script mirrored that of the pattern of his anxiety to the same script. Neutral
imagery did not produce feelings of anger in him.
Between-script comparisons indicated elevated ratings of anger to aggression imagery at all
stages relative to the neutral script. Elevated ratings to the homicide script also were
evident at the scene, approach, incident, and consequence stages, but not at the resolution
stage, where ratings of anger were comparable with the neutral script.
Figure 5. Matthew’s ratings for the VAS not angry-angry for each stage of the
three scripts.
Figure 6 presents the ratings for Matthew for each stage of each script for the VAS real-
unreal. Homicide imagery was associated with Matthew‘s feelings of unreality that increased
from a high level at the scene stage to an extreme level at the incident stage, with these
feelings not abating for the remainder of the homicide imagery script stages.
Ratings of feelings of unreality were at a moderate level throughout the aggression script,
with the exception of a peak at the incident stage when ratings increased to a moderately
high level that was still lower than the lowest rating associated with the homicide script.
Neutral imagery did not elicit feelings of unreality in Matthew.
0
20
40
60
80
100
Scene Approach Incident Consequence Resolution
Stage
Murder
Aggression
Neutral
Not
angry-
