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Entertainment and Politics Revisited: How Non-Escapist Forms of Entertainment Can Stimulate Political Interest and Information Seeking
Abstract
This article revisits the controversial relationship of entertainment and political communication. On the basis of a theoretical integration of entertainment theory with theories of motivated information processing, we suggest that entertainment consumption can either be driven by hedonic, escapist motivations that are associated with a superficial mode of information processing, or by eudaimonic, truth-seeking motivations that prompt more elaborate forms of information processing. Results of two experiments indicate that eudaimonic forms of emotional involvement (characterized by negative valence, moderate arousal, and feeling moved) stimulated reflective thoughts about politically relevant content, issue interest, and information seeking. This pattern was consistent across two types of entertainment stimuli (fictional films and soft news) and two types of affect manipulations (moving film music and moving exemplars).
... On the other hand, entertainment consumption can also serve to satisfy eudaimonic needs such as the seeking of deeper insight, meaning, truth, and self-development (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Oliver & Raney, 2011). For example, viewers who feel moved by a movie or a TV program often experience a need to think about the content, discuss it with others, and seek further information about the issue (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Ellithorpe et al., 2019;Weinmann, 2017). ...
... With regard to political communication, this eudaimonic type of entertainment experience holds particular promise as a gateway to political interest and participation (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Ellithorpe et al., 2019;Roth et al., 2018;Shah, 1998). Therefore, the purpose of the present research was to systematically analyze cognitive and affective factors associated with eudaimonic entertainment experiences and to examine their effects on politically relevant outcomes. ...
... Therefore, the purpose of the present research was to systematically analyze cognitive and affective factors associated with eudaimonic entertainment experiences and to examine their effects on politically relevant outcomes. Specifically, we aimed to replicate the effects of affective factors on reflective thoughts and issue interest (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014) and to examine whether this pattern of effects extends to individuals' willingness to engage in more active forms of political participation such as demonstrating, signing a petition, and considering the issue in electoral decisions (Study 1). In addition, we aimed to examine positive effects of perceived personal relevance (Study 2) and negative effects of absorption of cognitive resources (Study 3) on reflective thoughts, issue interest, and political participation intentions. ...
Can entertainment serve as a gateway to political interest and participation? In this paper, we examine the specific case of eudaimonic entertainment experiences (i.e., meaningful, moving, and thought-provoking entertainment experiences). To systematically analyze the influence of experiential and contextual factors associated with eudaimonic entertainment on political information processing, issue interest, and participation intentions, we conducted three experiments. Study 1 replicated positive effects of affective factors (arousal, negative valence, mixed affect, empathy, and feeling moved) on reflective thoughts, issue interest, and political participation intentions. Study 2 found positive associations of perceived personal relevance with reflective thoughts, issue interest, and political participation intentions. Study 3 found negative effects of absorption of cognitive resources on reflective thoughts, issue interest, and political participation intentions. The experimental variation of cognitive resources in Study 3 also allowed us to observe a reverse causal effect of reflective thoughts on affective factors.
... Emotional bewegende und nachdenkliche Medienerlebnisse können auch das Themeninteresse und die Partizipationsbereitschaft zu politischen Themen fördern (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Leonhard et al., 2021). So zeigte sich, dass Zuschauer:innen nach einem emotional bewegenden Film-oder Fernseherlebnis ein verstärktes Bedürfnis hatten, über das Thema nachzudenken und Informationsmedien zum gleichen Thema zu nutzen. ...
... So zeigte sich, dass Zuschauer:innen nach einem emotional bewegenden Film-oder Fernseherlebnis ein verstärktes Bedürfnis hatten, über das Thema nachzudenken und Informationsmedien zum gleichen Thema zu nutzen. Eine stärkere emotionale Bewegtheit durch Unterhaltungsmedien ging beispielsweise mit einer längeren Lesezeit von Nachrichten zum Thema und zu einer höheren Interessantheitsbewertung der Nachrichten einher (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014 (Leonhard, 2023). Gerade in sensiblen Lebens-und Entwicklungsphasen können sinnstiftende Resonanzerfahrungen Orientierung geben und Werte vermitteln (Klimmt & Rieger, 2021;Leonhard, 2023). ...
... Für eine ganzheitliche Bewertung fehlt im öffentlichen Diskurs allerdings häufig eine wissenschaftliche Einordung dieser Formate aus Perspektive der Mediennutzer:innen. Anknüpfend an bestehende Befunde aus der Medienrezeptions-und Medienwirkungsforschung zum informierenden und deliberativen Potenzial unterhaltsamer Medienangebote (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Schneider, Bartsch, et al., 2021;Weinmann & Vorderer, 2018) soll der vorliegende Beitrag neue Perspektiven auf den Mehrwert öffentlich-rechtlicher Medienunterhaltung eröffnen (siehe auch Friedrich & Jandura, 2012;Reinemann et al., 2012). Er geht somit der Frage nach, welche Rolle digitale Unterhaltungsangebote in algorithmisch kuratierten Online-Umgebungen bei der Umsetzung des öffentlich-rechtlichen Programmauftrags spielen. ...
... Eudaimonic entertainment experiences, in particular, have been shown to be efficient facilitators of such effects (Raney et al., 2019). For example, moving or empathic responses to entertainment fare can facilitate audiences' interest in a depicted political issue, motivate further information seeking and intentions to solve a portrayed societal problem (e.g., Bartsch et al., 2018;Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Oliver et al., 2012). Most germane to the present project, Schneider et al. (2016) revealed that the intensity of viewers' eudaimonic entertainment response to a documentary clip about an environmental protection measure (i.e., using natural gas as fuel for cars) predicted their intention to engage further with the topic. ...
... We draw on recent conceptualizations of the relationship between entertainment and information processing Bartsch & Hartmann, 2017;Bartsch & Schneider, 2014) to explain the mechanism behind the expectation that heightened eudaimonic entertainment experience mediates the effect of dual-message nature documentaries on viewers' pro-environmental intentions. We assume that a three-step process underlies the anticipated effect: (a) dualmessage nature documentaries inspire mixed affect in recipients; (b) mixed affect, in turn, leads to increased reflection; and (c) reflection motivates pro-environmental behavior. ...
... The affective qualities of eudaimonic entertainment responses have been theoretically and empirically associated with contemplation (Bartsch et al., , 2018Bartsch & Hartmann, 2017;Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). In particular, mixed affect should promote reflection, as the simultaneous emergence of positive and negative emotions is likely to direct the audience's attention to a problem worth pondering while reducing its aversive qualities to some degree Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Larsen et al., 2003). ...
Nature documentaries are an entertaining and informative genre that appears well-suited to environmental communication. However, producers of nature documentaries face a dilemma: Although they aim to inspire their audiences to act pro-environmentally, they fear ruining viewers’ entertainment experience if they address environmental destruction. Hence, conventional nature documentaries solely portray pristine nature. In contrast, recent nature documentaries have adopted a dual-message strategy by showing beautiful nature footage while also addressing conservation issues. We investigated how these dual-message nature documentaries affect viewers’ hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment experiences and their pro-environmental behavior intentions compared with conventional nature documentaries. We integrated theoretical accounts from entertainment research and environmental psychology and tested our assumptions in three online experiments (total N = 1,362). Our findings suggest that dual-message nature documentaries evoke weaker hedonic experiences than conventional documentaries but stronger eudaimonic experiences (i.e., mixed affect and reflection) that mediate the effect of dual-message documentaries on pro-environmental intentions.
... This body of work suggests that individuals' appreciation of meaningful and thoughtprovoking stories constitutes an important motivation for entertainment consumption, on par with hedonic motivations such as fun and suspense. In line with the notion of catharsis as intellectual clarification of emotions (Golden, 1969), viewers of eudaimonic entertainment reported a sense of affective and cognitive challenge (Bartsch & Hartmann, 2017), and the more moved they felt, the more they engaged in cognitive elaboration and information seeking about the social and political issues portrayed (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). ...
... Our first research question dealt with audiences' motivations for using fiction as a source of knowledge and the range of knowledge types and knowledge domains that they sought in fictional entertainment. While prior work has tended to focus on specific domains, such as health information in entertainment education (Moyer-Gusé, 2008) or political issues in eudaimonic entertainment (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014), we asked more broadly about the main types and content areas of information that audiences think they learn from fiction, including generalized interpretive knowledge about human nature as conceptualized in theories of mimesis and catharsis (Golden, 1969). RQ1: How do audiences describe the epistemic functions of fiction in terms of knowledge-related uses, knowledge domains of interest and types of knowledge outcomes? ...
... Social epistemology of knowledge acquisition from fictional entertainment: discussion, research implications, and future directions Our theoretical and empirical investigation set out to explore the process of knowledge acquisition from fiction with a special focus on social practices for epistemic vigilance toward fictional content and sources. Overall, our findings are consistent with and suggest important extensions to the research literature on perceived realism (Busselle & Bilandzic, 2008;Hall, 2003), entertainment education (Moyer-Gusé, 2008;Slater & Rouner, 2002), and dual process models of entertainment (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). By integrating this literature with work on social epistemology (Goldmann, 1999;Sperber et al., 2010;Zagzebski, 2012), information processing (Lang, 2000), credibility assessment (Metzger et al., 2010), and inductive findings from our qualitative study, knowledge acquisition from fiction can be conceptualized as a complex process with important social dimensions. ...
Fictional entertainment can serve as a vivid and easily comprehensible source of knowledge, but only if audiences are able to tell its kernel of truth apart from fantasy. In this article, we use the lens of social epistemology to develop a theoretical framework of knowledge acquisition and verification practices for fictional entertainment that integrates various extant lines of work on entertainment education, perceived realism, information processing, credibility assessment, and verification strategies. To flesh out the conceptual model derived from top-down theoretical integration, we use an inductive, bottom-up approach to theory building, assisted by qualitative research. The resulting model describes knowledge acquisition from fiction as an essentially social process characterized by a combination of epistemic trust and epistemic vigilance toward fictional content and sources, in which credibility is assessed via social knowledge sharing and verification practices.
... For example, emotional responses triggered by political content may stimulate deliberative discussions and intensify involvement. Furthermore, the dual-process model of entertainment experience and motivated cognition (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;also Schneider et al., 2021) argues that, in addition to often discussed escapist motives, "entertainment consumption can also be driven by . . . 'truth-seeking' motivations that prompt more elaborate forms of processing" (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014, p. 370). ...
... To derive our hypotheses, we draw from the (extended) dual-process model of entertainment experience and motivated cognition (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;, which connects dual-process models of entertainment with dual-process models of motivated information processing (for a recent overview, see Tamborini et al., 2021). The model describes several message characteristics that are associated with eudaimonic entertainment experiences and motivated cognition, including low absorption potential, high personal relevance, moderate excitatory potential as well as negative valence and mixed affect. ...
... Out of the many emotions that are possible outcomes of epistemic activities (Pekrun et al., 2017), particularly surprise, curiosity, and confusion can be linked to two specific characteristics of eudaimonic entertainment experiences -moderate arousal level and mixed affect (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). Curiosity and confusion are associated with a moderate level of arousal. ...
... First, media content can be perceived as thought-provoking and reflective thoughts in turn can contribute to a positive evaluation of media content in the form of appreciation (Oliver and Bartsch, 2010). Second, eudaimonic entertainment can evoke media experiences that strongly engage a reader's or viewer's cognitive faculties, a process similar to a slow, elaborate or systematic mode of processing information (Bartsch and Schneider, 2014;Lewis et al., 2014). ...
... 260). It seems, however, that eudaimonic experiences are connected to a higher level of intensive processing, as dual processing models of entertainment suggest (Bartsch and Schneider, 2014;Lewis et al., 2014). Consistent with that, a study by Bartsch and Hartmann (2017) showed that cognitive and affective challenges in media content increased judgments of appreciation of a movie. ...
... For example, "Don't look up" is based on the deadly threat of the comet. Topics like the struggle for survival or fear of impending death, in principle, concerns all audience members and can create involvement that increases systematic, effortful processing (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), which is known to be related to eudaimonic media experiences (Bartsch and Schneider, 2014;Lewis et al., 2014). We assume that such topics also facilitate critical thinking as a mind-set effect. ...
We propose to extend the theoretical concept of eudaimonia as a media effect with critical thinking as a mind-set effect. Critical thinking as a mind-set effect means that media narratives can stimulate viewers and readers to think critically in any situation, even outside of the exposure situation and applied to other topics. It denotes a generally heightened critical attitude or “mind-set” to approach issues and situations by taking different pieces of information into account, weighing and analyzing them, developing one’s own arguments and drawing conclusions. People with this mind-set try to be well-informed, use credible sources and observations, are alert for alternatives, open-minded, maintain and change views according to evidence, and are motivated to hold accurate beliefs. In this article, we provide a theoretical elaboration of the idea of critical thinking as a mind-set effect, and connect it to traditions of Enlightenment literature as well as theoretical approaches on narrative effects. We also present data from a qualitative pilot study using the film “Don’t look up” to explore the potential of such an extension of eudaimonic entertainment. Finally, we discuss implications of introducing critical thinking as a mind-set effect for narrative persuasion.
... We expected that exposure to counter stereotypical representations in fictional primetime drama would culminate in a meaningful experience that would lead to greater identification with the female characters, transportation into the narrative, enjoyment, self-efficacy, and a subsequent positive change in attitude toward female politicians. Bartsch and Schneider (2014) emphasized that exposure motives (hedonic and eudaimonic) to fictional entertainment were related to cognitive processing of messages and had an absorption potential that explained the effects of fictional entertainment on various political attitudes. The hedonic motives involve happiness, defining well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance, whereas the eudaimonic motivation is the willingness to initiate actions toward personal excellence. ...
... Entertainment researchers also fell "short of capturing the experiential qualities and complex emotional processes triggered by various types of media entertainment that exist in reality" (Klimmt, 2011, p. 34). Bartsch and Schneider (2014) underscored the significance of fictional entertainment in eliciting emotional involvement, which might result in elaborate cognitive processing of the information packaged in politainment such as drama and promoted interest in political discussions and processes. This study sought inspiration from this line of research and conceptualized that exposure to fictional political drama with a female lead character would positively change the attitude of viewers toward the character. ...
... Despite interesting and insightful findings presented in the foregoing paragraphs, the current study was not free from potential limitations. A significant caveat dealt with the eudaimonic motives to use politainment as it was considered a situational factor having dispositional traits and depended on the mood of the viewers (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Lewis, Tamborini, & Weber, 2014;Oliver & Raney, 2011). Since this study applied eudaimonic and hedonic motives as separate scales, it would be plausible in future research to examine the effects of combined exposure motives on attitude toward characters in politainment. ...
We examine the relationship between media use motivations and attitudes toward female politicians by proposing a conceptual model explaining the role of key mediating variables such as identification, narrative transportation, enjoyment, and political self-efficacy in influencing the attitude of the viewers of international TV drama towards female role models (politicians). We investigated the direct and indirect effects between media use motivations and attitudes toward female politicians by recruiting 359 students from two large public universities in the Southeastern United States. The hypothesized model supported the evidence presented in extant scholarship, suggesting that a meaningful entertainment experience could foster an appreciation of the fictional televisual entertainment and positively change attitudes toward female lead characters playing the role of a viable and competent politician. This study resonates with politicians, academics, and activists’ concerns that a positive media portrayal could promote the acceptability of female leaders in powerful positions. Our study clarifies the direct and indirect effects between media use motivations and attitudes toward female politicians and the role of crucial mediating variables such as identification, narrative transportation, enjoyment, and political self-efficacy in influencing the attitude of the viewers of international TV drama towards female politicians.
... While these studies provide mixed results on the potential of eudaimonic experiences on pro-environmental behavioral intentions, previous research has found that eudaimonic entertainment experiences are generally capable of fostering empathy and reflection, which can ultimately lead to attitudinal and behavioral changes (e.g., seeking further information about a social or ecological problem, Bartsch et al., 2018;Schneider et al., 2016). Due to the affective qualities of eudaimonic entertainment experiences, that is, mixed-affect and feeling moved (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010), this kind of entertainment can lead to elaborate processing (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;. Hence, audiences who experience eudaimonic entertainment while watching nature documentaries will most likely think more intensely about filmmakers' calls to preserve nature or the portrayed vulnerability of nature and animals. ...
... Appreciating the content of a nature documentary thus seems to come along with motivational effects. This mirrors past findings linking eudaimonic experiences (e.g., empathy, reflection) to behavioral change (e.g., Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Bartsch et al., 2018) in general and pro-environmental behavioral intentions in particular (Freytag & Possler, 2024). Intentions to engage in protecting the environment have been observed in viewers of nature documentaries in the past (e.g., Hynes et al., 2021), and our study provides further evidence that this is related to an eudaimonic experience. ...
Nature documentaries are among the most popular media formats but are understudied in communication research. However, due to the format’s multifaceted potential to simultaneously inform, entertain, and persuade, nature documentaries seem particularly worthy of investigation. The present contribution has two aims: (1) to explain how nature documentaries facilitate entertainment responses in their viewers and (2) to investigate how entertainment experiences resulting from watching nature documentaries are linked with viewers’ pro-environmental behavior intentions and travel intentions. To establish a firm theoretical base, we integrated conceptual foundations from entertainment research and environmental psychology. To test our hypotheses, we analyzed data from two preregistered experiments: a paper-pencil study (N = 179) and an online study that aimed to replicate the findings of our first study (N = 308). Our findings provide initial evidence for the dual (i.e. hedonic and eudaimonic) entertainment qualities of nature documentaries and the mediating roles of suspense and awe. Furthermore, the results suggest that viewers’ hedonic entertainment experience is a relevant underpinning of their intention to travel to the depicted destination, whereas their eudaimonic experience inspires them to take action to protect the environment.
... And there was a statistically significant direct effect (β = 0.41) of reflective thoughts on destigmatization (Hecht et al., 2022). The importance of reflective thoughts is explained by dual process models of entertainment (Oliver and Raney, 2011;Bartsch and Schneider, 2014), in the sense that eudaimonic (vs. hedonic) entertainment experiences, and therefore moving and thoughtprovoking experiences, lead to prosocial outcomes in such a way that ...
... • Empathy attitude model (Batson et al., 1997): empathy with a member of a stigmatized group can lead to positive outcomes regarding the whole group (e.g., Hecht et al., 2022) • Dual process models of entertainment (Oliver and Raney, 2011;Bartsch and Schneider, 2014): ...
Destigmatization is a crucial step toward achieving societal equality. Media contribute both to the stigmatization and destigmatization of various groups. Through a systematic literature review, the present study aims to develop a comprehensive overview of destigmatization in the context of media and communication. A final sample of 79 scientific publications was analyzed and synthesized. First, a systematically derived, interdisciplinary applicable definition of destigmatization is presented. Second, an overview of factors influencing destigmatization is given, categorized into four factor groups: contact, education, language and terminology, and framing. Third, the processual character of destigmatization, referring to reflexive and rule-based processes, is discussed. This systematic literature review emphasizes the responsibility and potential positive impact of media and communication for destigmatization. The findings provide a basis for adaptation and expansion by future research focusing on various stigmatized groups and settings.
... Individuals' demonstrating eudaimonism have a higher level of self-awareness and opt for a thought-provoking mode of entertainment. Thus, several researchers have posited that eudaimonic entertainment can be derived from anxiety, suspense and even self-introspection (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). Huta (2016) added that eudaimonia is associated with individuals who seek truth and strive for high standards (in ethics, performance and behaviour) while gaining insights about their own potential. ...
... The researchers intend to explain this behavioural aspect of the audience through the lens of the escape theory. The escape theory states that due to unpleasant life experiences, individuals try to escape their own reality and seek for escapist entertainment that stimulates an automatic and effortless mode of cognitive processing (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). Research also indicates that formal education and the viewing amount of escapist content are intertwined and furthermore, individuals with low formal education tend to display a lower need for cognition (Henning & Vorderer, 2001). ...
The Indian theatrical market is divided into two categories: single screens and multiplexes. This unique fragmentation has led to the movie maker's indecisiveness regarding the release strategy as some movies perform better in single screens whereas, some perform better in multiplexes. On top of that, although movie genre is deemed to be one of the most crucial factors impacting the audience's preference, the existing literature has scantily explored the impact of genre preference across the two different movie-watching venues in India. Furthermore, despite the growing importance of escapism and eudaimonism in the leisure literature, researchers have overlooked its relevance in the study of movie genres. This study seeks to bridge this gap in literature by exploring the diversity of escapist and eudaimonic genre preferences in single screens and multiplexes in India. To achieve the objective, a cross-sectional study was conducted, and data was hand collected from 324 moviegoers across five cities. Cluster and discriminant analyses were employed to explore the movie genre preferences. The findings indicate that the single-screen and multiplex audiences can be segmented based on four genres (Mythology, Romance, Masala & Crime). The study internalises the escape theory to conceptualise a novel relationship between escapist and eudaimonic behaviour with various movie genre preferences in single screens and multiplexes. It also links the audience demographics with the genre preference. From a managerial perspective, this study would consequently help the stakeholders of the movie industry in segmenting the market by designing an effective release and distribution strategy.
... Messages that evoke emotions often ask the viewer to consider causes/issues that are self-transcendent-bigger than the individual and bigger than the company or its products or services-to connect to ubiquitous sociopolitical issues . Although self-transcendence has not been explored in the context of CSA, literature in media psychology has documented the influence of emotions on social and political behaviors (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Nabi et al., 2018). For example, Nabi et al. (2018) investigated the role of emotion (specifically fear and hope) in the framing of environmental policy initiatives and results revealed hope was a key mediator between gain-framed messages and desired attitudes toward climate change policy. ...
... For example, Nabi et al. (2018) investigated the role of emotion (specifically fear and hope) in the framing of environmental policy initiatives and results revealed hope was a key mediator between gain-framed messages and desired attitudes toward climate change policy. These heightened effects of emotion have been argued to prompt a more elaborate form of cognitive processing, which is needed for shaping individual attitudes toward political messaging (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). ...
Consumer reaction toward corporate social advocacy (CSA) stances can often be swift and visceral. These reactions may be due to messages evoking emotions that are self-transcendent-bigger than the individual and bigger than the company or its products or services. However, no research to date has examined the nature of self-transcendent emotions in CSA messages. Through a content analysis of CSA messages (n = 352), this exploratory study examined characteristics of CSA messages to understand the nature and prevalence of self-transcendent emotional elicitors within company CSA stances-as manifested in both written statements and video messages-which are typically the two mediums that companies use to communicate their CSA stances. Results indicate that most CSA messages do contain transcendent emotional elicitors with appreciation for beauty and excellence being the most prevalent. This study holds implications for research and practice at the intersection of public relations and media psychology.
... Furthermore, although traditional understandings of media entertainment as merely pleasurable have dominated previous research (Vorderer, Klimmt, & Ritterfeld, 2004), more recent approaches go beyond this hedonic focus by addressing satisfying intrinsic needs, feelings of being moved, meaningfulness, self-transcendence, and inspiration (Oliver et al., 2018). These eudaimonic entertainment experiences can have beneficial effects on politically relevant outcomes, such as information processing, knowledge, and engagement (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Knop-Huelss, Rieger, & Schneider, 2020;Schneider, Weinmann, Roth, Knop, & Vorderer, 2016). ...
... Apart from this cognitive learning perspective, media entertainment was also said to support emotional engagement and empathy [G14, P5-6, P8, C33, SK13], highlighting affective reactions in the relationship between entertainment and political engagement (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014 repeatedly mentioned topics suggested indirect effects, which we report in more detail below. ...
In light of the controversial relationship and blurred lines between information and entertainment media, the current study’s goal aimed at qualitatively exploring media entertainment’s role in emerging adults’ political identity formation and engagement. By analyzing 55 semistructured interviews from Germany, Croatia, Turkey, South Korea, and the Philippines, we examined how emerging adults in 5 countries—differing in tightness-looseness, political culture, and media freedom—explore alternative political identities (identity exploration) and commit to a set of political values (identity commitment). Across countries, notable similarities supported the notion of traditional and new forms of entertainment as universal drivers of political identity formation and engagement (e.g., informational source, broadening one’s horizon). However, idiosyncrasies of countries reflected unique cultural values, beliefs, and norms, and the benefits of media entertainment pathways to political identity development appeared to depend on political freedom and democracy.
Full text available at https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/17233
... By no means are we suggesting that digital media is the only factor contributing to the increasing trend in boredom. Cultural shifts may also play a role, as many aspects of life, such as politics [155][156][157] and religion 158 , have been subjected to the demands of entertainment 102 . Other possible factors include economic development 2 and changes in social behaviours 67 . ...
In an era where entertainment is effortlessly at our fingertips, one would assume that people are less bored than ever. Yet, reports of boredom are higher now than compared to the past. This rising trend is concerning because chronic boredom can undermine well-being, learning, and behaviour. Understanding why this is happening is crucial to prevent further negative impacts. In this Perspective, we explore one possible reason—digital media use makes people more bored. We propose that digital media increases boredom through dividing attention, elevating desired level of engagement, reducing sense of meaning, heightening opportunity costs, and serving as an ineffective boredom coping strategy.
... Eudaimonic media has been shown to yield cognitively engaging experiences resembling thoughtful reflection and elaborative thinking [Raney et al., 2019]. More specifically, eudaimonic emotions have yielded reflective thinking, increased topical interest, and information seeking behavior among research participants [Bartsch & Schneider, 2014]; additionally, feelings of being moved have been shown to elicit reflective thinking [Bartsch, Kalch & Beth Oliver, 2014]. Similarly, awe has been proposed to have evolved in part to motivate reflective processing that may encourage individual exploration [Lucht & van Schie, 2024]. ...
Although many science communicators strive to inspire audiences, scant research has sought to understand how media may evoke inspiration. The present study was a three-condition (modality: text-only, audio-only, and audiovisual) between-subjects experiment examining how media content about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) motivated participants’ feeling moved, awe, curiosity, rumination, and their inspiration state. The findings revealed no statistical difference between using text or audio content, but that audiovisual content can hinder rumination if self-transcendent emotions are not induced. Findings revealed that content leading participants to feeling moved and experiencing awe should lead to reflective thought, and ultimately, feelings of inspiration.
... It would be remiss not to recognize the contributions of communication studies and cultural sociology to our understanding of entertainment media effects (Appel 2008;Bartsch and Schneider 2014;Bryant and Miron 2002;Mulligan and Habel 2011). Here, scholars have long explored cultivation theory-the idea that habitual exposure to the wider entertainment media environment can affect the audience's perception of social and political realities. ...
American voters consume an astounding amount of entertainment media, yet its political consequences are often neglected. We argue that this ostensibly apolitical content can create unique opportunities for politicians to build parasocial ties with voters. We study this question in the context of Donald Trump’s unconventional political trajectory and investigate the electoral consequences of The Apprentice. Using an array of data—content analysis, surveys, Twitter data, open-ended answers—we investigate how this TV program helped Trump brand himself as a competent leader and foster viewers’ trust in him. Exploiting the geographic variation in NBC channel inertia, we find that exposure to The Apprentice increased Donald Trump’s electoral performance in the 2016 Republican primary. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of the rise of nonconventional politicians in this golden age of entertainment.
... The dimension of 'suspense' captures the experience of tension and excitement that consumers feel during consumption. It involves the accumulation and resolution of suspense, reflecting a more complex form of hedonism [21]. For instance, someone might say, 'I felt ups and downs watching this game.' ...
Well-being is an ordinary life goal that many people strive to achieve. Recently, there has been a growing interest in academic research on how consumption can enhance well-being. Hedonic sports consumption, which is associated with positive emotions, can positively impact an individual’s subjective well-being by providing both physical and mental enjoyment and relieving the stresses of everyday life. However, there is a need for more comprehensive research on the mechanisms that connect meaningful sports consumption behaviors, which may also be accompanied by negative emotions, to the mental health of individuals. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to explore the potential mechanisms of meaningful sports consumption behaviors and eudaimonic well-being in individual mental health. Based on the SOR theory, this study develops a comprehensive conceptual model to examine the impact of sports consumption behavior on individuals’ eudaimonic well-being. The study’s results indicate that engaging in meaningful sports consumption behaviors can positively influence individuals’ eudaimonic well-being. Additionally, the study finds that perceived social support and perceived self-esteem among sports consumers significantly and positively impact their eudaimonic well-being. Finally, the study reveals that perceived social support and perceived self-esteem mediate the pathway through which meaningful sports consumption behaviors affect eudaimonic well-being. These findings contribute to our understanding of how to enhance sports consumers’ eudaimonic well-being and promote meaningful sports consumption behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended that sports marketers focus on providing meaningful sports service offerings, fostering consumer–society connections, and increasing respect and appreciation for consumers. These marketing insights can be valuable in promoting positive sports consumption experiences.
... Fans of music competition shows seek information to enhance their knowledge about the music, news stories of the competition, and opportunities to attend live performances (Bronstein & Lidor, 2020). Truth-seeking-motivated exposure to an EE text prompts cognitive elaboration and further information seeking (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014), increasing knowledge acquisition and behavioral changes (Lee & Wu, 2013). ...
... This process also influences their behavioral intentions positively (Fluker and Turner, 2000;Hosany and Witham, 2010). Escape motivation is also regarded as an important factor in the pursuit of entertainment-oriented experiences (Bartsch and Schneider, 2014). This is also true in the context of international food festivals, as ethnic food has the potential to provide visitors with an escape experience (Yordam, 2021). ...
Purpose
The study aims to examine the mediating effects of escapism (ESC) and ethnic food experience (EFE) in the relationship between diversity (DIV) and behavioral intentions (BI) of visitors attending Hoi An International Food Festival held in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The research takes a predictive and explanatory approach rather than theory confirmation. Partial least squares (PLS) algorithm was used to analyze multiple mediation. The data were collected from 323 attendees through a self-administered questionnaire.
Findings
The research highlights that escapism and EFE have positive and significant mediating effects on the relationship between DIV and BI. Furthermore, while EFE is the most important predictor of BI, escapism has emerged as an antecedent variable that deserves to be given the highest importance. Finally, visitors who are participating in their first international food festival do not seem to consider the nexus between DIV and ESC as much as repeaters.
Research limitations/implications
The study's limitations include the collection of data from a single festival and the fact that the analyses are only quantitative. The results contribute to festival organizers by revealing the importance of multiple mediation roles.
Originality/value
This study contributes novel insights to the literature on festival and event management, extending previous studies and filling a gap by proposing ESC and EFE as multiple mediators in the nexus between DIV and BI. The present study provides a comprehensive examination of the influence of individual variables previously analyzed separately on festival-goers' experiences. This facilitated the identification of crucial aspects of the circumstance, thereby reducing any ambiguity.
... Study 1 went further than the motivational level by testing the consequence of exposure in a cross-sectional survey. The significant relationship between video viewing and involvement is congruent with a past study on moving film exemplars and involvement (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). The positive influence of empathy on depression (H6) is predictable due to the nature of the empathy concept. ...
This study examined the relationships of audience exposure to user-generated eudaimonic YouTube videos with subsequent involvement, empathy, perceived depression, and happiness in two studies. This study adapted self-compassion as a moderated mediator to the models. In Study 1, 402 respondents participated in a survey. Results found that user-generated eudaimonic video viewing on YouTube activated involvement but not depression reduction. Self-compassion mitigated the relationship between empathy and depression. In Study 2, with 189 respondents, a positive and significant indirect influence of eudaimonic YouTube video viewing on happiness through involvement and empathy was found. The results demonstrate that user-generated eudaimonic YouTube videos have the potential to improve well-being when users are involved in and empathetic with the video content. The role of user-generated eudaimonic YouTube video viewing in human well-being research was discussed. Future research directions were suggested.
... The existing literature on tourism concludes that escapism is appealing to individuals who want to relax or want to go away from their routine activities, and that escapist activities lead to spending on entertainment activities [58,59]. Researchers consider escapism as one of the primary motivational factors that encourage individuals to take a leisure trip away from routine life [60]. ...
This study attempts to examine the interactions between the tourist experience quality, perceived price reasonableness, and regenerative tourism involvement variables and tourist satisfaction by taking into account the moderating effects of tourist destination loyalty and destination image. The survey was circulated among international tourists visiting the Ha’il region of Saudi Arabia. This study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the data collected. The results showed significant and positive effects of enjoyment, tourist destination loyalty, and destination image on tourist satisfaction. However, the findings show that escapism, relaxation, involvement, perceived price reasonableness, and regenerative tourism involvement did not have a direct impact on tourist satisfaction. Further, it was found that the destination image moderates the relationship between regenerative tourism involvement and tourist satisfaction. The results also reveal that tourist destination loyalty significantly moderates the relationship between perceived price reasonableness and tourist satisfaction. The influence of regenerative tourism involvement on tourist satisfaction has not been addressed in prior research, to the best of authors’ knowledge, and is, therefore, the unique contribution of this study.
... The integration of Heimat elements into political and environmental campaigns could be especially successful and should be carefully analyzed in persuasive communication studies, as eudaimonic and meaningful media experiences have been found to positively affect persuasion. For instance, meaningful media has been shown to stimulate reflective thoughts (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;De Ridder et al., 2021). Commercial forms of persuasive communication, such as marketing communication and advertising, have also been found to use the term "Heimat" in their appeals (Schramm et al., 2022). ...
Television programs with an emphasis on regional and familiar aspects related to individuals’ cultural social identity can evoke Heimat associations and convey a sense of Heimat. Following a preliminary study (N = 100) to develop an instrument to measure the sense of Heimat, a first experiment (N = 169) found significant effects of Heimat associations in a television program on television viewers’ Heimat-related social identity and, in turn, their sense of Heimat and eudaimonic entertainment experience. A second experiment in another region with a different sample (N = 147) replicated these findings.
... Contemporary studies of the beneficial effects of media use-particularly, entertainment narratives-generally rely upon dual-process models (e.g., Bartsch and Schneider, 2014;Lewis et al., 2014) to differentiate between two broad types of experiences: those primarily associated with pleasure (i.e., hedonic media experiences) and those primarily associated with meaningfulness (i.e., eudaimonic media experiences). This distinction is reflected in the aforementioned Eden et al. (2020) study. ...
Media use can be beneficial in many ways, but little is known about how it might improve wellbeing outcomes following a traumatic natural disaster. Survivors (n = 491) of deadly Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida (USA) coastline in 2018, completed an online survey, reporting indicators of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and stress (PTSS). A serial mediation model explored how hurricane-related stressors were related to both outcomes, as mediated by approach, avoidant, and support-seeking coping strategies and post-hurricane hedonic, eudaimonic, and self-transcendent media use as coping tools. Factors contributing to each type of post-hurricane media use were also explored. Results indicate that hurricane-related stressors were associated with PTG, serially mediated through approach coping strategies and self-transcendent media use, thus providing some of the first empirical evidence of the longer-term, beneficial wellbeing effects of media use on survivors of trauma. Additionally, hurricane-related stressors were associated with avoidant coping strategies, which were associated with increased eudaimonic media use. However, hedonic and eudaimonic media use were not associated with PTSS or PTG. Finally, factors known to be associated with media use were not predictive of post-hurricane media use, perhaps suggesting that media play a different role in survivors' lives in the months following a traumatic event.
... She finds that viewers who orient to content as news or as a mix of news and entertainment, invest more mental effort, thereby learning more than viewers who perceive the same content as solely entertaining. These findings are supported by other studies, which find that fictional or entertaining content elicit a more elaborate form of cognitive processing (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014;Kim & Vishak, 2008;LaMarre & Grill, 2019;LaMarre, Landreville, Young, & Gilkerson, 2014). Thus, when individuals consume political entertainment media with the desire for deeper meaning, they process information more thoroughly and are more receptive to media effects. ...
Political Internet memes significantly contribute to discourse around contemporary events. By studying memes, scholars understand these ‘units of culture’ as forms of participatory content that can fulfill political functions. To explore whether users ascribe memes a political role and consider them an alternative to or supplement of traditional political participation, this study provides a user-centered perspective focusing on core motives of meme use. Via a Delphi method interview approach, participants discuss uses and gratifications of memes in political contexts. A qualitative content analysis provides insight into the role and impact of memes in social movements and everyday politics. The findings show that users perceive memes as a tool for easy, effortless engagement in the public sphere driven by the interplay of self-expression, social identity, and entertainment motives. Participants also discuss potentials and limitations of memes in political contexts, concluding that political memes can only support other efforts. The study contributes to our understanding of memes from a psychological perspective and establishes a basis for further research on deliberative political practices from a user perspective.
... In a previously mentioned study on the negative effects of news exposure (Boukes & Vliegenthart, 2017), the authors found that short-term exposure to soft news increased self-reported mood. They claim that these findings could be explained by the predominance of entertaining content in their chosen soft newspapers (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). ...
Past research has shown that news media may contain a disproportionate amount of negative news. Frequent exposure to such negative information could have detrimental effects on our mental well-being. We aimed to gain further insight into the potentially adverse effects of exposure to soft and hard news, as well as to examine potential reasons why individuals might expose themselves to such negative information. To do so, we conducted an online survey involving 176 participants (66 male, 107 female and 3 other) aged 15-65 years. The study included manipulation and additional (correlational) analyses. In the manipulation, we tested for the potential short-term effects of exposure to soft or hard news on the psychological well-being of our participants (as measured by the semi-projective Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank; Rotter, 1950). This was done by setting three conditions (soft news, hard news and control group) wherein participants were exposed to 15 consecutive front page screenshots of the chosen soft and hard newspapers respectively. Hard news is generally more focused on major issues and breaking events-i.e., news that is important for the individual to understand, while soft news usually focuses on personal stories, is less time-bound, and is more incident-based. The correlational part of our study focused on discovering associations between long-term exposure to (different types of) news and the degree of negative emotions and well-being (measured by the DASS-21, Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). The results did not show statistically significant differences between conditions. When comparing the long-term readers of the chosen hard and soft newspapers, statistically significant differences were found only in anxiety levels, however, a forming trend seemed to suggest that long-term exposure to soft news might be associated with reduced psychological well-being. Our findings are discussed in line with the contemporary psychological literature.
... Also, once trust in democracy is eroded, it is very hard to restore (Citrin & Stoker, 2018). By contrast, there is an abundance of evidence that those politically uninterested can be re-involved, as for instance, via political entertainment (Bartsch & Schneider, 2014). This may suggest that the effects on trust in democracy are more consequential in terms of democratic theory than those of political interest. ...
With the increasing availability of big digital voter data, there are rising concerns that online political micro-targeting (PMT) may be harmful for democratic societies. However, PMT may also be beneficial to democracy because it targets voters with content that matches with their predispositions, potentially increasing political interest. For both, harmful and beneficial outcomes of PMT, we lack empirical evidence on the side of citizens. In a two-wave panel survey study, we tested the reciprocal relationships over time between perceived online PMT, trust in democracy, and political interest. We found that perceived online PMT leads to a decrease of trust in democracy, but also to an increase in political interest. The effect on political interest was independent from age. No reciprocal effects of trust in democracy and political interest on perceived PMT were observed. Overall, the results suggest that the democratic implications of PMT are more nuanced than previously assumed.
The dual-process perspective in entertainment research differentiates between hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment experiences. Hedonic responses are thought to result from relatively effortless reception of non-challenging (or “light”) media fare. In contrast, eudaimonic entertainment experiences are theorized to depend on cognitively or affectively challenging content (e.g., tragedies) and effortful reflection. The present work builds on the meaning-as-information framework and the meaning-making model to suggest a conceptual alternative. We argue that audience members can have eudaimonic experiences—particularly, meaningful experiences—without intense challenges and cognitive labor by detecting meaning in messages that affirm (or “celebrate”) their core values. An online experiment ( N Study1 = 275) and a pre-registered replication ( N Study2 = 253) with viewers of short video clips provided substantial support for this proposition. Our discussion highlights that the analytical differentiation of low-effort hedonic and high-effort eudaimonic modes of entertainment needs revision.
In the ever-evolving landscape of online communication, memes have emerged as potent tools for influencing public opinion. This qualitative study explores the motivations, intentions, and strategic approaches of six meme creators through semi-structured in-depth interviews. It analyses how meme creators perceive and recognize their evolving roles as political actors, challenging traditional communication paradigms, resonating with audiences, driving conversations, and democratizing political engagement. The results reveal meme creators’ nuanced understanding of their content’s educational potential and ability to sway and influence perceptions. Meme creators view themselves as agents of change and perceive their role as crucial in the landscape of contemporary political communication, where they can shape public discourse and influence collective attitudes. They strategically frame political messages and set agendas, viewing their work as a continuation of political satire’s rich tradition. This study highlights their awareness of the ethical complexities involved and analyses how these meme creators turned into modern political actors and grapple with concerns around the monetization of memes and the spread of misinformation. Overall, this research offers a rare glimpse into the world of meme creators as it sheds light on their innovative strategies, their role in democratizing media, and their ability to transform the way we engage with politics. It underscores the transformative potential of memes and highlights that the meme creators’ work is not just about humor, but about making a significant impact on political engagement and public discourse.
Eudaimonic media experiences are vast. A comprehensive theoretical model of inward- and outward-focused eudaimonic media outcomes, that can explain how they come about and how they can be discriminated, is still missing. The current manuscript introduces the Transcendent Media Experiences Model (TMEM) to categorize eudaimonic content and experiences as they pertain to healthy self-focus or outward-focused (transcendent) responses and outcomes using self-construal theory as a backbone. This model allows for a more cohesive understanding of when, how, and for whom inward- or outward focused eudaimonic media experiences develop and the mechanisms for why they do so. As such, the model provides a framework for future research directions to systematically address the challenges of predicting, describing, and measuring eudaimonic media experiences and effects.
The significance of political participation in social governance and development is increasingly prominent. Citizens’ institutionalized political participation stands as a primary symbol of realizing people’s ownership. Public trust in government, a crucial emotional element of political participation, serves as a bridge for institutionalized political participation. This study formulates a moderated mediation model, encompassing public cognition, emotions, attitudes, and political behaviors. The model aims to elucidate the attributional paths of governmental governance capacity, social justice, and social security on public trust in government and political participation. The findings underscore three pivotal antecedents of public trust in government: citizens perceptions of governance capacity, social justice, and social security foster political participation behavior through public trust in government, subsequently influencing overall political participation. Political efficacy plays a moderating role, influencing the strength of the mediating effect from public trust in government to institutionalized political participation. This addresses a gap in prior research on the intrinsic motivation of citizens’ political engagement. The study emphasizes the role of political efficacy in facilitating and motivating individuals for “orderly political participation,” providing a practical foundation for enhancing the stability of social governance and democratic development.
This study investigates how anticipating an artificial intelligence agent versus human information source moderates the risk information seeking and processing model. It focuses on a behavioral proxy of seeking intention—how long a participant waited for an online consultant whose identity was manipulated. In two samples ( N 1 = 182 students and N 2 = 800 mturkers), the source identity consistently moderated the model in two ways: First, informational subjective norms encouraged seeking from humans but discouraged seeking from AI agents. Second, information insufficiency drove favoritism toward humans–when perceived information-gathering capacity was high. When the capacity was low, AI agents were favored.
This handbook provides a strong collection of communication- and psychology-based theories and models on media entertainment, which can be used as a knowledge resource for any academic and applied purpose. Its 41 chapters offer explanations of entertainment that audiences find in any kind of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, from classic novels to VR video games, from fictional stories to mediated sports. As becomes clear in this handbook, the history of entertainment research teaches us not to forget that even if a field is converging to a seemingly dominant perspective, paradigm, and methodology, there are more views, alternative approaches, and different yet equally illuminative ways of thinking about the field. Young scholars may find here innovative ways to reconcile empirical-theoretical approaches to the experience of entertainment with such alternative views. And there are numerous entertainment-related phenomena in contemporary societies that still fit the „bread and circuses-“ perspective of the initial Frankfurt School thinking. So while the mission of the present handbook is to compile and advance current theories about media entertainment, scholars active or interested in the topic are invited to also consider the historic roots of the field and the great diversity it has featured over the past nearly 100 years. Many lessons can be learned from this history, and future innovations in entertainment theory may just as likely emerge from refining those approaches compiled in the present handbook as from building on neglected, forgotten, or marginalized streams of scholarship.
This handbook provides a strong collection of communication- and psychology-based theories and models on media entertainment, which can be used as a knowledge resource for any academic and applied purpose. Its 41 chapters offer explanations of entertainment that audiences find in any kind of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, from classic novels to VR video games, from fictional stories to mediated sports. As becomes clear in this handbook, the history of entertainment research teaches us not to forget that even if a field is converging to a seemingly dominant perspective, paradigm, and methodology, there are more views, alternative approaches, and different yet equally illuminative ways of thinking about the field. Young scholars may find here innovative ways to reconcile empirical-theoretical approaches to the experience of entertainment with such alternative views. And there are numerous entertainment-related phenomena in contemporary societies that still fit the „bread and circuses-“ perspective of the initial Frankfurt School thinking. So while the mission of the present handbook is to compile and advance current theories about media entertainment, scholars active or interested in the topic are invited to also consider the historic roots of the field and the great diversity it has featured over the past nearly 100 years. Many lessons can be learned from this history, and future innovations in entertainment theory may just as likely emerge from refining those approaches compiled in the present handbook as from building on neglected, forgotten, or marginalized streams of scholarship.
This handbook provides a strong collection of communication- and psychology-based theories and models on media entertainment, which can be used as a knowledge resource for any academic and applied purpose. Its 41 chapters offer explanations of entertainment that audiences find in any kind of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, from classic novels to VR video games, from fictional stories to mediated sports. As becomes clear in this handbook, the history of entertainment research teaches us not to forget that even if a field is converging to a seemingly dominant perspective, paradigm, and methodology, there are more views, alternative approaches, and different yet equally illuminative ways of thinking about the field. Young scholars may find here innovative ways to reconcile empirical-theoretical approaches to the experience of entertainment with such alternative views. And there are numerous entertainment-related phenomena in contemporary societies that still fit the „bread and circuses-“ perspective of the initial Frankfurt School thinking. So while the mission of the present handbook is to compile and advance current theories about media entertainment, scholars active or interested in the topic are invited to also consider the historic roots of the field and the great diversity it has featured over the past nearly 100 years. Many lessons can be learned from this history, and future innovations in entertainment theory may just as likely emerge from refining those approaches compiled in the present handbook as from building on neglected, forgotten, or marginalized streams of scholarship.
The gap in knowledge and information-seeking between high and low socioeconomic status (SES) has been well documented. This study extends this knowledge gap hypothesis to narrative persuasion in the context of parents’ knowledge and information-seeking intention concerning adolescents’ COVID-19 vaccination. It specifically tests if the gap is moderated by a message type (narrative vs. non-narrative). An online quasi-experiment, with a 2 (participants’ education level: high vs. low) × 3 (message type: narrative vs. non-narrative vs. no-message) between-subject design, showed a main effect of education level (i.e., parents with a higher [vs. lower] education level rated a higher intention to seek information and provided more correct answers on questions about adolescents’ COVID-19 vaccination) and an interaction between the two factors. The interaction showed that the gap between high- and low-education groups in information-seeking intention disappeared among those who read the narrative or non-narrative, and the gap in knowledge disappeared among those who read the narrative. Study findings suggest the utility of narratives in narrowing the gap in knowledge and information-seeking to improve parents’ decisions on child vaccination.
A growing body of research reveals that entertainment narratives are persuasive across a variety of topics. Models of narrative persuasion highlight key mechanisms, but one limitation of this theorizing is that it has not directly considered the full range of entertainment narratives that exist. Viewers select media content to fulfill various needs—hedonic needs for pleasure and enjoyment or more eudaimonic needs gratified by appreciation and mixed affective responses. Narrative persuasion theorizing would benefit from explicitly considering eudaimonic entertainment narratives and how they may uniquely lead to persuasion. Doing so will expand on existing narrative persuasion mechanisms and identify contingencies regarding when and for whom distinct types of entertainment narratives may persuade. This article builds on the entertainment overcoming resistance model by advancing a set of testable propositions regarding narrative persuasion by meaningful entertainment and offering an agenda for future research in this area.
Although the ‘audience turn’ ( Costera Meijer, 2020 ) in journalism has been extensively discussed in studies, and journalists acknowledge the need to improve their relationship with their audience ( Nelson and Lewis 2022 ), the audience’s perspective on journalistic roles remains underexplored ( Riedl and Eberl, 2020 ). Generally, the examination of journalistic roles has been from a production perspective ( Hanusch 2019 ). We aim to address this ‘gap’ by examining journalism as a discursive institution ( Zelizer 1993 ), and focusing on audience-oriented roles, defined in the Worlds of Journalism-study as accommodative roles ( Hanitzsch et al. 2019 ). We surveyed a representative sample (N = 1577) of Flemish respondents about their news use, news attitudes, and their views on audience-oriented journalistic roles. Regression models were used to predict differences in how different subsets of news users view the importance of these journalistic roles. Our findings reveal that subsets of users have diverse expectations of what journalists should do, for instance, younger audiences expect journalists to act less as explainers than older audiences. Incorporating the audience’s views in the discussion of journalistic roles could be a useful approach to strengthen the audience-journalism relationship.
This volume is an up-to-date assessment of the current state of journalism research. The authors are acknowledged experts in the fields of research whose central questions, theories and results they present in a compact form. They also develop perspectives for future research. In doing so, they keep an eye on the complex changes in journalism in the present and the future. As a proven basic work, the volume is aimed at academics and students as well as practitioners who want to gain insight into research. For the third edition, the latest research approaches and findings have been added. In addition, the volume has been expanded to include essays on current trends in journalism. With contributions by Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Altmeppen, Prof. Dr. Klaus Arnold, Prof. Dr. Thomas Birkner, Prof. Dr. Andrea Czepek, Konstantin Dörr, Dr. Tanja Evers, Prof. Dr. Susanne Fengler, Prof. Dr. Alexander Godulla, Michael Graßl, Dr. Regina Greck, Prof. Dr. Thomas Hanitzsch, Prof. Dr. Ralf Hohlfeld, Korbinian Klinghardt, Maike Körner, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen, Prof. Dr. Margreth Lünenborg, Dr. Débora Medeiros, Prof. Dr. Klaus Meier, Prof. Dr. Christoph Neuberger, Prof. Dr. Armin Scholl, Dr. Jonas Schützeneder, Prof. Dr. Cornelia Wolf and Prof. Dr. Vinzenz Wyss.
Escape rooms are a popular new form of leisure and amusement globally, including in North American cities. Based on a thematic and discourse analysis of online content, we examine ten carceral-themed escape room operations in the United States and Canada. Drawing on theories of cultural power and neoliberalism, we analyze the messages conveyed by site operators about the deservingness of life, freedom and justice for imprisoned people. Contributing to literature on dark tourism and dark leisure, we also explore how the ideas of a ‘crime complex’ and ‘safe contact’ are reflected in representations of penality attached to escape room games. We argue that such depictions misrepresent the realities of carceral experience, producing understandings of carcerality and deservingness that foster punitive views among participants.
There are grounds to assume that the use nonpolitical, entertainment-oriented Social Media (SM) may dampen democratically relevant outcomes. However, research has largely ignored the political effects of such entertainment-oriented SM content as well as its interaction with exposure to political SM content. Based on the distinction between political and entertainment-oriented SM use, we developed a fourfold theoretical typology, “the Inactive”, “the News Avoiders”, “the Distracted”, and “the Focused”. Using data from a two-wave panel study (N = 559), we found that “the Focused” scored highest while the “the Inactive” and the “the News Avoiders” scored lowest on democratically relevant outcomes. Autoregressive panel analyses further revealed a positive effect of political SM exposure on low-effort political participation, but not on high-effort participation, political interest, and knowledge over time. Exposure to entertainment-oriented content on SM was associated with a decrease in high-effort political participation over time. For low-effort participation and political interest, the over-time effect of political SM exposure was dampened with rising levels of entertainment-oriented SM exposure, confirming the distraction effect. Implications are discussed.
Being moved has received increased attention in emotion psychology as a social emotion that fosters bonds between individuals and within communities. This increased attention, however, has also sparked debates about whether the term “being moved” refers to a single distinct profile of emotion components or rather to a range of different emotion profiles. We addressed this question by investigating lay conceptions of the emotion components (i.e., elicitors, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, bodily symptoms, and consequences for thought/action) of “bewegt sein” (the German term for “being moved”). Participants (N = 106) provided written descriptions of both a moving personal experience and their conceptual prototype of “being moved,” which were subjected to content analysis to obtain quantitative data for statistical analyses. Based on latent class analyses, we identified two classes for both the personal experiences (joyfully-moved and sadly-moved classes) and the being-moved prototype (basic-description and extended-description classes). Being joyfully moved occurred when social values and positive relationship experiences were salient. Being sadly moved was elicited by predominantly negative relationship experiences and negatively salient social values. For both classes, the most frequently reported consequences for thought/action were continued cognitive engagement, finding meaning, and increased valuation of and striving for connectedness/prosociality. Basic descriptions of the prototype included “being moved” by positive or negative events as instances of the same emotion, with participants in the extended-description class also reporting joy and sadness as associated emotions. Based on our findings and additional theoretical considerations, we propose that the term “being moved” designates an emotion with an overall positive valence that typically includes blends of positively and negatively valenced emotion components, in which especially the weight of the negative components varies. The emotion’s unifying core is that it involves feeling the importance of individuals, social entities, and abstract social values as sources of meaning in one’s life.
The present review examines whether commonalities and differences can be detected in the content of eudaimonic entertainment. We focused on two features: the fundamental human needs that were threatened, and the specific virtues that were portrayed. The results showed that the examined materials often included a combination of portrayals of threats to the fundamental human needs for safety, health and relatedness, and portrayals of the virtue of humanity, like love and kindness. Two subcategories could be distinguished in the materials, one in which the focus is on the portrayal of virtue as an answer to threatened needs, and one in which the focus is on the portrayal of threatened needs in which characters struggle even though they also have virtue.
This article analyzes the contribution of mobile device applications to political discourse in the US presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020. The sample consisted of 101 applications (apps) and the analysis was based on a qualitative methodology that examined the popularity and discourse features of these apps. The results reflect a wide range of developments that oscillate between commercial interest and a form of blurred political engagement located somewhere across entertainment, parody and virality.
Three studies investigated the influence of mood states on the processing of positive and negative information regarding caffeine consumption and on the impact of this information on one's mood, attitudes, and intentions. The results were consistent with the predictions of the mood-as-a-resource hypothesis: First, the induction of positive mood in high (compared with low) caffeine consumers enhanced recall of negative information about caffeine consumption. Second, processing information about caffeine consumption undermined the positive mood of high (but not low) caffeine consumers. Third, the induction of positive mood enhanced the impact of negative information about caffeine on high (compared with low) caffeine consumers' attitudes and intentions toward caffeine consumption.
A revised and updated version of this chapter (to appear in the 2nd edition of The Oxford Handbook of Social Cognition) is available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352192780_Dual-Process_Theories
Hypotheses were derived from downward comparison and attachment theory to address the tragedy paradox: more sadness produces greater tragedy enjoyment. Participants (n = 361) watched a tragedy and reported affect, enjoyment, life happiness, and spontaneous thoughts (categorized into self- vs. socio-focused). Greater sadness led to greater enjoyment, mediated by life reflection; specifically, both self- and socio-focused thoughts mediated this sadness impact on tragedy enjoyment. Furthermore, more sadness led to greater life happiness increase during exposure, mediated by socio-focused thoughts only. No parallel effects emerged for positive affect. The present findings suggest that tragedy-induced sadness instigates (a) life reflection that increases tragedy enjoyment as well as (b) specifically thoughts about close relationships that, in turn, raise life happiness, which (c) subsequently increases tragedy enjoyment further.
This chapter outlines the two basic routes to persuasion. One route is based on the thoughtful consideration of arguments central to the issue, whereas the other is based on the affective associations or simple inferences tied to peripheral cues in the persuasion context. This chapter discusses a wide variety of variables that proved instrumental in affecting the elaboration likelihood, and thus the route to persuasion. One of the basic postulates of the Elaboration Likelihood Model—that variables may affect persuasion by increasing or decreasing scrutiny of message arguments—has been highly useful in accounting for the effects of a seemingly diverse list of variables. The reviewers of the attitude change literature have been disappointed with the many conflicting effects observed, even for ostensibly simple variables. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) attempts to place these many conflicting results and theories under one conceptual umbrella by specifying the major processes underlying persuasion and indicating the way many of the traditionally studied variables and theories relate to these basic processes. The ELM may prove useful in providing a guiding set of postulates from which to interpret previous work and in suggesting new hypotheses to be explored in future research.
Copyright © 1986 Academic Press Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Guided by the risk information-seeking and processing model, this study examines positive and negative affect separately in their influence on information-seeking intentions and avoidance through structural equation analyses. The highlight is that information avoidance seems to be driven by positive affect, while information seeking seems to be more heavily influenced by negative affect. Another interesting finding is that informational subjective norms are positively related to both seeking and avoidance, which suggests that one’s social environment has the potential to strongly influence the way he or she handles climate change information. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
This study attempted to (a) extend traditional mood management theory research by investigating the influence of the intrinsic needs for competence and autonomy on selective exposure to video games and (b) test the influence of satisfying these needs on resultant mood repair. An experiment varied satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs using false feedback. Subjects then selected media that varied in level of user demand. Measures of need satisfaction were taken before and after media selection. Results demonstrated that
(a) thwarted intrinsic needs significantly predict the choice of video games with different levels of user demand and (b) the satisfaction of these needs predicts enjoyment. Findings indicate that mood management can result from mood repair through need satisfaction.
The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which news story format (narrative vs. non-narrative) can initiate empathic processes that produce more favorable evaluations of stigmatized groups. Participants (N = 399) read one of two versions of a story that described health care–related dilemmas for either immigrants, prisoners, or the elderly. Narrative-formatted stories produce more compassion toward the individuals in the story, more favorable attitudes toward the group, more beneficial behavioral intentions, and more information-seeking behavior.
This article extends current theorizing in media psychology on audience responses to cinema by examining individuals' perceptions of meaningfulness. Specifically, it presents the results of a study designed to expand upon research on psychological and subjective well-being to experiences and memories of films that are perceived as particularly meaningful by viewers. Characteristics and themes of such films are examined and identified, as well as the specific emotional responses that accompany perceptions of meaningful cinema.
We examine the notion of eudaimonic entertainment during exposure to a sad but meaningful movie, using a new measure consisting of 5 dimensions derived from research on positive psychology. We, thereby, transfer the conception of eudaimonic well-being to the conception of entertainment. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis show that the 5 dimensions can be further condensed into 2 second-order factors. We applied these new measures in a study in which the ending of a movie was manipulated (sad vs. happy). The results provide both discriminant and convergent validity and show that hedonic entertainment measures were affected by the manipulation, but that eudaimonic entertainment measures were unaffected. A second study provided further evidence for the validity of the construct.
The purpose of this article is to examine the experience of appreciation to media entertainment as a unique audience response that can be differentiated from enjoyment. To those ends, the first section provides a conceptualization of appreciation in which we outline how we are using the term and how it is distinct from questions of emotional valence. The second section discusses the types of entertainment portrayals and depictions that we believe are most likely to elicit feelings of appreciation. Here, we suggest that appreciation is most evident for meaningful portrayals that focus on human virtue and that inspire audiences to contemplate questions concerning life’s purpose. In the final section we consider the affective and cognitive components of appreciation, arguing that mixed-affective responses (rather than bi-polar conceptualizations of affective valence) better capture the experience of appreciation and its accompanying feelings states such as inspiration, awe, and tenderness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reigning measures of psychological well-being have little theoretical grounding, despite an extensive literature on the contours of positive functioning. Aspects of well-being derived from this literature (i.e., self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth) were operationalized. Three hundred and twenty-one men and women, divided among young, middle-aged, and older adults, rated themselves on these measures along with six instruments prominent in earlier studies (i.e., affect balance, life satisfaction, self-esteem, morale, locus of control, depression). Results revealed that positive relations with others, autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth were not strongly tied to prior assessment indexes, thereby supporting the claim that key aspects of positive functioning have not been represented in the empirical arena. Furthermore, age profiles revealed a more differentiated pattern of well-being than is evident in prior research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia and hedonic enjoyment constitute 2 philosophical conceptions of happiness. Two studies involving combined samples of undergraduate and graduate students (Study 1,
n = 209; Study 2,
n = 249) were undertaken to identify the convergent and divergent aspects of these constructs. As expected, there was a strong positive correlation between personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Analyses revealed significant differences between the 2 conceptions of happiness experienced in conjunction with activities for the variables of (1) opportunities for satisfaction, (2) strength of cognitive-affective components, (3) level of challenges, (4) level of skills, and (5) importance. It thus appears that the 2 conceptions of happiness are related but distinguishable and that personal expressiveness, but not hedonic enjoyment, is a signifier of success in the process of self-realization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This contribution explores the relationship of emotion and cognition in entertainment experience. Drawing on the reflective model of aesthetic experience (Cupchik, 1995) and the concept of appreciation (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010), we propose a multi-level view of affective processing that includes simple affect schemata as well as more elaborate forms of sociomoral reasoning that build on this basic layer of emotional meaning. To better understand how affective factors can stimulate or impede cognitive elaboration processes, we review research on motivated cognition that has dealt with the influence of arousal, valence, and personal relevance on cognitive depth. The role of affect in defensive information processing (i.e., the motivated neglect or denial of information) is also considered. Specifically, we discuss how research on motivated cognition can help explain thought-provoking entertainment experiences, and the potential of such experiences to stimulate self-reflection and personal growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
[the authors'] research project, Cultural Indicators, has tracked the central streams of television's dramatic content since 1967 and has explored the consequences of growing up and living with television since 1974 / [Cultural Indicators] investigated the extent to which television viewing contributes to audience conceptions and actions in areas such as gender, minority and age-role stereotypes, health, science, the family, educational achievement and aspirations, politics, religion, and other topics, all of which are increasingly also being examined in cross-cultural comparative contexts / summarize and illustrate our theory of the dynamics of the cultivation process, both in the US and around the world (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article presents a model of enjoyment rooted in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) that includes the satisfaction of three needs related to psychological wellbeing: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In an experiment designed to validate this conceptualization of enjoyment, we manipulate video game characteristics related to the satisfaction of these needs and examine their relative effects on enjoyment. The validated model explains 51% of the variance in enjoyment, even without including needs usually studied in relation to enjoyment such as pleasure seeking. Results indicate the utility of defining enjoyment as need satisfaction. These results are discussed in terms of a broader conceptualization of enjoyment represented as the satisfaction of a comprehensive set of functional needs.
What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? In the season of Trump and Hillary, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever.Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals."It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN
Political figures and events often elicit strong emotional responses in citizens. These responses have the power to impact judgments and information processing, as well as the types of information that individuals seek out. Recent examples of political events that have elicited strong emotional reactions are easily accessible. The fiasco in Florida during the presidential election of 2000 led many voters to experience anger at the outcome of the election and disgust at the process whereby it was decided. The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, led citizens to experience a collective sense of fear and anxiety, along with sadness for the loss of life and anger at Osama bin Laden for masterminding the attacks. Along with these negative emotions was a sense of enthusiastic patriotism in the United States. Positive affective reactions, however, tend to be more general than negative reactions. That is, while positive reactions may be experienced as general positivity, negative feelings are typically more differentiated and may be experienced, for example, as fear, anger, sadness, disgust, or guilt (e.g., Averill 1980; Ellsworth and Smith 1988).
This article distinguishes between hedonic and eudaimonic approaches to wellness, with the former focusing on the outcome of happiness or pleasure and the latter focusing not so much on outcomes as on the process of living well. We present a model of eudaimonia that is based in self-determination theory, arguing that eudaimonic living can be characterized in terms of four motivational concepts: (1) pursuing intrinsic goals and values for their own sake, including personal growth, relationships, community, and health, rather than extrinsic goals and values, such as wealth, fame, image, and power; (2) behaving in autonomous, volitional, or consensual ways, rather than heteronomous or controlled ways; (3) being mindful and acting with a sense of awareness; and (4) behaving in ways that satisfy basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. In fact, we theorize that the first three of these aspects of eudaimonic living have their positive effects of psychological and physical wellness because they facilitate satisfaction of these basic, universal psychological needs. Studies indicate that people high in eudaimonic living tend to behave in more prosocial ways, thus benefiting the collective as well as themselves, and that conditions both within the family and in society more generally contribute toward strengthening versus diminishing the degree to which people live eudaimonic lives.
'Tabloidization' is a new, frequently used term equally employed by journalists, media critics and academics to characterize a recent, dubious trend in the mass media. This article sets out to define this diffuse, multidimensional concept and discusses its usefulness for communication research. It emerges that 'tabloidization' can only be analysed adequately with a long-term cross-national design that focuses on quality news media and employs a wide range of empirical measures. This approach is taken here by comparing the press of Britain, Germany and the US, whereas the focus remains on the first two countries. A three-seep empirical analysis based on a definition developed before - demonstrates that journalistic values, media cultures as well as economic and legal conditions are responsible for the degree of 'tabloidization' in a given country.
Research on audience interest in violent media content is extended to include individuals' appreciation of certain types of violent portrayals as a meaningful and valuable reflection of reality. A sample of 482 German and U.S. adults aged 18–82 watched movie trailers that varied in pretest ratings of gore and meaningfulness, but were equivalent in suspense. As hypothesized, perceived levels of gore and meaningfulness interacted to predict individuals' reported likelihood of watching the full movie, such that a negative influence of gore on viewing likelihood was compensated at high levels of meaningfulness. These findings suggest that, in addition to other motivations such as suspense, some types of violent and even gory content might be sought as an opportunity for meaning-making.
This article presents four studies designed to assess different types of gratifications that can be associated with the experience of emotions in movie and television audiences. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of a pool of statements derived from qualitative interviews revealed three factors that reflect rewarding feelings: 1) fun, 2) thrill, and 3) empathic sadness, and four factors that reflect the role of emotional media experiences within the broader context of individuals' social and cognitive needs: 4) contemplative emotional experiences, 5) emotional engagement with characters, 6) social sharing of emotions, and 7) vicarious release of emotions. Validation analyses showed that the scales developed to assess these factors are predicted by the experience of emotions and meta-emotions and served in turn to predict different aspects of positive content evaluation. Results are discussed with regard to theoretical issues including entertainment audiences' voluntary exposure to unpleasant feelings, and the role of entertainment in psychosocial need satisfaction and eudaimonic wellbeing.
The effects of agenda-setting and priming are well established in regard to the news media. Considerably less attention has been paid to these phenomena in entertainment media, in spite of the fact that entertainment media enjoy larger audiences than do news media and often address political topics. This article argues that the psychological mechanism hypothesized to lead to agenda-setting and priming effectsthat is, changes in construct accessibilityapplies as equally to entertainment media as it does to news media. Moreover, we contend that the frequency, consistency, and duration of entertainment media treatments of political issues encourage chronic accessibility of those issues. We test these hypotheses looking at television crime dramas as a source of political information. Using data from two controlled laboratory experiments and the 1995 National Election Study Pilot Study, we demonstrate that viewing crime dramas significantly increases concerns about crime and that these concerns significantly affect viewers' opinions of the president. The NES Pilot Study data suggest that these effects are restricted to frequent viewers of crime dramas, supporting a chronic accessibility model of agenda-setting and priming. These findings extend our growing understanding of how non-news sources of political information contribute to the construction of political attitudes.
We conducted a meta-analysis of 34 studies of the positive effects of television on children's social interactions, levels of aggression, altruism, and levels of stereotyping (a total of 108 effect sizes, 5,473 children). Across dependent measures, there were consistent moderate positive effects for those who watched prosocial content in experimental settings compared to control groups or those who watched antisocial content. Moreover, the positive effect of self-selected exposure to prosocial content was as strong as the negative effect of self-selected exposure to violent content. Effects were largest for depictions of altruism, primarily because such content tended to involve explicit modeling of desired behaviors. Strong negative effects occurred in the few studies where children watched aggressive prosocial content.
This paper examines the interactive effects of the perceived strength of the verbal claims and the intensity and direction of the emotional appeal of public service announcements (PSAs) on audience perceptions of message effectiveness. The results show that PSAs containing strong verbal claims are rated as more effective than those with weak claims. Arousing messages with weak claims are perceived as least effective. Increasing claim strength increased memory for negative but not for positive messages. It is suggested that the combination of intense emotional appeal and weak claims may be partially responsible for the boomerang effects in antidrug campaigns.
Research indicates that the extent to which one becomes engaged, transported, or immersed in a narrative influences the narrative's potential to affect subsequent story-related attitudes and beliefs. Explaining narrative effects and understanding the mechanisms responsible depends on our ability to measure narrative engagement in a theoretically meaningful way. This article develops a scale for measuring narrative engagement that is based on a mental models approach to narrative processing. It distinguishes among four dimensions of experiential engagement in narratives: narrative understanding, attentional focus, emotional engagement, and narrative presence. The scale is developed and validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with data from viewers of feature film and television, in different viewing situations, and from two different countries. The scale's ability to predict enjoyment and story-consistent attitudes across different programs is presented. Implications for conceptualizing engagement with narratives as well as narrative persuasion and media effects are discussed.
Positive self- and emotional development is often measured by optimization of happiness, but a second aspect of positive development—the ability to tolerate tension and negativity in the interest of maintaining objective representations—needs to be integrated with this hedonic emphasis. The integration of these two aspects, optimization and differentiation, reflects a dynamic balance. Such integration is possible when emotional activation or arousal is moderate, but is impaired at very high levels of activation. From youth to middle adulthood, the capacity for integration increases, but later in life, limitations or poor regulation strategies foster compensatory processes that compromise integration.
In "Any Good News in Soft News?" Markus Prior investigates whether, beyond enhancing their attentiveness to select political issues (Baum, 2002a), consumers also learn about politics from soft news. He presents evidence suggesting that the audience for soft news is much smaller than that for hard news, and that a self-expressed preference for soft news outlets is associated with at most sporadic gains in factual political knowledge. In this commentary, I argue that the audience for soft news outlets is, in fact, quite large, even rivaling that for hard news. I further argue that long-term retention of factual political knowledge--the focus of Prior's web-based survey--is an overly restrictive definition of learning. By broadening our definition--taking into account recent insights from cognitive and social psychology concerning human information processing--it becomes possible to understand how consuming soft news might indeed be associated with learning about politics, but not necessarily with an enhanced long-term store of factual political knowledge. I present evidence that consuming soft news influences the attitudes of politically inattentive individuals and that, in at least some fairly predictable contexts, doing so is also associated with enhanced factual political knowledge. I conclude that while Prior's finding of an absence of evidence of consistent factual political knowledge effects represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of the political significance of the soft news media, it does not constitute compelling evidence of absence of any meaningful learning about politics associated with consuming soft news. Hence, it is premature to conclude that there is no good news in soft news.
Provides an intuitive introduction to the key elements of the authors' theory, the Transportation-Imagery Model, and presents the postulates and their implications. Next, this chapter compares the Transportation-Imagery approach to persuasion with dual-process models of rhetorical persuasion, specifically it contrasts the authors' theory with the Elaboration-Likelihood Model. Selected research implications are discussed. This chapter concludes with a discussion of possible areas in which the ideas of narrative persuasion can be applied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This chapter lays out the basics of mood management theory and describes related empirical research. It also aims to pinpoint some gaps and inconsistencies in the existing evidence to inspire future empirical work. For instance, many studies that have been linked to the mood management framework did not precisely look at moods or content choices as postulated by the theory, or they tested hypotheses that were not included in the original theoretical claim. On the other hand, some of the original suggestions have only rarely been investigated in rigorous terms. Furthermore, some recent advancement from studies on mood-based media choices and related motivations are discussed, especially inasmuch as they help to address challenges from empirical findings to the original theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The purpose of this research is to broaden the conceptualization of entertainment selection to identify not only pleasure-seeking (hedonic concerns) as a motivator, but to also recognize that individuals may choose media as a means of “truth-seeking” (eudaimonic concerns). This article conceptualized and developed measures to illustrate that entertainment can be used as a means of experiencing not only enjoyment, but also as a means of grappling with questions such as life's purpose and human meaningfulness. Four studies were conducted in the development of these measures, providing evidence for their validity in terms of entertainment preference and individual differences, and illustrating how these motivations predict preferences for entertainment that elicits unique affective experiences.
The concept of transportation into narrative (Green & Brock, 2002) is used to gain new insights into cultivation processes. A theoretical framework is developed where cultivation is seen as the result of a self-reinforcing interaction between persuasive and motivational effects of transportation: Repeated highly transportive experiences contribute to the overall cultivation effect by adjusting the viewers’ worldviews after each exposure. At the same time, viewers are motivated to return to programming of a given genre because transportation is an enjoyable experience. Our study uses transportability as an indicator of repeated transportive experiences and seeks to test its validity and usefulness for cultivation research. Results indicate that transportability predicts transportation within specific viewing experiences. Although no linear moderation effects of transportability are found, the data suggest a nonlinear moderation. Genre-consistent attitudes held prior to exposure facilitate transportation, but transportation was not consistently related to increases in genre-related judgments after a single exposure. Limitations of the transportability measure to represent repeated transportive exposures are discussed.
Four studies were conducted to explore how tender affective states (e.g., warmth, sympathy, understanding) predict attraction to entertainment that features poignant, dramatic, or tragic portrayals. Studies 1 and 2 found that tenderness was associated with greater interest in viewing sad films. Studies 3 and 4 found that tender affective states were associated with preferences for entertainment featuring not only sad portrayals but also entertainment featuring drama and human connection. Results are discussed in terms of how these forms of entertainment may provide viewers the opportunity to contemplate the poignancies of human life - an activity that may reflect motivations of media use related to meaningfulness or insight rather than only the experience of pleasure.