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Dolf Zillmann

American psychologist specialising in media psychology (born 1935)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ85748664
Source-derived summary

Dolf Zillmann (born March 12, 1935) is dean emeritus, and professor of information sciences, communication and psychology at the University of Alabama (UA). Zillmann predominantly conducted research in media psychology, a branch of psychology focused on the effects of media consumption on human affect, developing and expanding a range of theories within media psychology and communication. His work centred on the relation between aggression, emotion, and arousal through media consumption, predominantly in pornography and violent genres of movie and television. His research also includes the effects of music consumption, video games, and sports.

Zillmann's influence within both the fields of media psychology and communication was highlighted by Ellen Baker Derwin and Janet De Merode finding Zillmann to be the seventh most contributing media psychology author between 1999 and 2010.

Life

Early life and education (1935–1959)

Born in the former Province of Brandenburg, in the now Polish town of Meseritz, Zillmann's birthplace was highly contended, changing hands between German, Polish and Soviet forces throughout the duration of the Second World War. Much of his early educational experiences in the Western region of Poland took place in underfunded and understaffed educational institutions. Within Poland, roughly 20 percent of the population over the age of 10 were illiterate. Many of the primary schools had been closed, instead being utilised as hospitals for soldiers. Those schools that were open were highly filtered and structured through the Nazi ideology for the education of Slavs.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Dolf Zillmann” as american psychologist specialising in media psychology (born 1935). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1935, 1999, 2010, 1959—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1935-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Dolf, Zillmann and American can be independently traced.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american psychologist specialising in media psychology (born 1935). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q85748664. VIAF identifies the subject as 77363585. The Library of Congress control number is n85047880. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1935, 1999, 2010 and 1959.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Dolf Zillmann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.