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Media Marathoning and Health Coping
Abstract
This study uses Grounded Theory to analyze interviews with a dozen individuals who media marathoned while going through a health struggle. The analysis addresses five major themes: engaging in escapism that enables emotional and avoidance coping, regulating cognitive expenditure by embracing challenging or comforting content, being still to heal the body, reducing emotional and cognitive strain by engaging a continuous narrative, and tapering from the marathon when feeling better. Findings suggest that media marathoning can offer beneficial cognitive, emotional, and physical regulatory opportunities for those dealing with health struggles. Furthermore, media marathoning when dealing with a health concern is a strategic and active coping strategy that has potential health benefits.
... More recent research has also investigated some positive effects of escapist entertainment use. Empirical studies revealed that escapist entertainment use helps to reduce emotional and cognitive strain, leads to enjoyment, and helps to satisfy intrinsic needs (Müller, 2018;Perks, 2018). Although these findings contribute to a more balanced picture, recent research still often carries a negative connotation and tends to classify escapist entertainment use as dysfunctional (e.g., Meier et al., 2018;Young, Kuss, Griffiths, & Howard, 2017). ...
... Secondly, longer usage time should enable intensified entertainment experiences so that individuals receive even more pleasant compensatory gratifications. More specifically, binge-watching allows for continued immersion and absorption, which should facilitate experiences of presence, transportation, and parasocial interactions (Jones, Cronin, & Piacentini, 2018;Perks, 2018;Shim & Kim, 2018). ...
... For example, if an individual's energy is exhausted, selecting escapist binge-watching as a coping strategy should become more likely. Results from a qualitative interview study support this notion by indicating that individuals consider escapist binge-watching as effective when they seek an entertaining, but cognitively undemanding activity (Perks, 2018). This can be explained by the familiarity of bingewatched series: Continuously following the same narrative and the same characters is cognitively less demanding than watching a new movie, for instance. ...
Although the concept of escapism is widely used in entertainment research, it lacks theoretical and empirical differentiation. Based on the transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), we extend previous attempts to conceptualize escapism as a form of emotion-focused avoidance coping. In contrast to the primarily negative connotation of escapism found in prior research, we propose that escapist entertainment use may be a functional coping strategy in some situations and may thus have beneficial effects on the well-being of media users. To develop and illustrate our perspective, we turn to binge-watching as a prominent example of escapist entertainment use. We show exemplarily how escapist binge-watching can contribute to recovery from stress and close our chapter with reflections on how to further develop escapism research.
... Perceived physical health risks (PHRs): The impact of excessive OTT consumption on users' health has recently gained attention in the literature (Perks, 2019;Singh et al., 2021). Studies disclose significant health consequences of excessive streaming media consumption (Perks, 2019). ...
... Perceived physical health risks (PHRs): The impact of excessive OTT consumption on users' health has recently gained attention in the literature (Perks, 2019;Singh et al., 2021). Studies disclose significant health consequences of excessive streaming media consumption (Perks, 2019). Therefore, we propose that excessive consumption of OTT streaming services may expose users to various PHR, such as disrupted sleeping patterns, compulsive overeating, physical inactivity and mood swings, including anxiety, fatigue and emptiness (Agarwal et al., 2023;Sharma and Lulandala, 2022). ...
Purpose
With over-the-top (OTT) streaming services rapidly transforming the media industry and saturating the market, the authors' study seeks to enrich the goal-directed behaviour model by exploring how perceived risks and descriptive norms influence OTT consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data from OTT subscribers were collected online to assess their risk behaviours. The 353 responses obtained were analysed with SmartPLS, validating the structural equation modelling (SEM) through structural and measurement model verification.
Findings
The authors' findings illustrate that descriptive norm, perceived behavioural control, as well as positive and negative anticipated emotion (NEM) and attitude, contribute positively to the desire to engage with OTT streaming services. Interestingly, the authors' study contradicts common assumptions, revealing that subjective norms do not significantly impact the propensity to utilise OTT services. This counterintuitive finding necessitates a reconsideration of prevalent theories and contributes to a nuanced understanding of OTT adoption determinants.
Research limitations/implications
The data gathering for this study were conducted from the perspective of a single nation. Therefore, caution must be exercised when generalising this study's results.
Practical implications
The practical ramifications of this research are vast, providing OTT service providers and marketers with actionable insights to maximise user engagement and navigate perceived risks related to OTT service adoption and consumption.
Originality/value
This study's exploration of perceived risks and descriptive norms enhances the goal-directed behaviour model's breadth, facilitating a holistic comprehension of the constructs shaping OTT consumption behaviours. It would be the first attempt to combine perceptual, affective and behavioural factors and perceived risks to understand the user's predisposition to engage in OTT streaming services.
... Wielkość próby badawczej wiązała się z wybraną dla danego projektu metodologią. W 63 badaniach realizowanych wyłącznie z zastosowaniem kwestionariuszy ankiet wyróżniliśmy następujące typy prób badawczych ( W ośmiu badaniach opartych wyłącznie na technice IDI rozmawiano głównie z osobami dorosłymi (Steiner i Xu, 2020), spełniającymi dodatkowe kryteria, takie jak: brak dzieci (oznaczający więcej czasu na oglądanie; Feiereisen, 2019); bingowanie (Jones i in., 2020); problemy zdrowotne (Perks, 2019a(Perks, , 2019b i korzystanie z platform streamingowych (Gumus, 2021). W jednym badaniu uczestniczyli kanadyjscy studenci (od 12 do 36 osób) realizujący projekt o BW (Da Costa, 2019). ...
... Zjawiska BW nie uznawano wyłącznie za aktywność zindywidualizowaną, izolującą, podejmowaną w samotności. Badacze wymieniali jego relacyjny aspekt społeczny, chociażby możliwość wspólnego oglądania, rozmowy o serialach, identyfikowania się z ich bohaterami (Matrix, 2014;Pittman i Sheehan, 2015;Panda i Pandey, 2017;Rubenking i in., 2018;Perks, 2019aPerks, , 2019bSusanno i in., 2019;Gangadharbatla i in., 2019). ...
Celem niniejszego tekstu jest opis ilościowego stanu piśmiennictwa na temat binge watchingu, charakterystyka formalna badań nad tym zjawiskiem (metod, technik, populacji) oraz przedstawienie motywów bingowania i jego skutków. W artykule zastosowano pogłębioną analizę literatury przedmiotu (126 publikacji za lata 2014-2021), w efekcie omawiając rozwój badań nad bing-watching jako interdyscyplinarnym polem badawczym, z uwzględnieniem wykształcenia się i różnicowania się trendów badawczych, częściowo specyficznych dla poszczególnych nauk.
... Perks' interviews (2019) demonstrated individuals who were suffering from an injury sought comfort in binge-watching to distract themselves from the pain and boredom. Similarly, those who were suffering from mental health problems also used bingewatching as a way to escape their stress (Perks, 2019). ...
... The results of the present study are more supportive of the media use for recovery hypothesis and research on media use to cope with stress (Eden et al., 2020;Reinecke et al., 2011Reinecke et al., , 2014, in that the results suggest that problematic media use can actually yield positive results for some people in some contexts. Although many studies have found that binge-watching and problematic media use are associated with (Gangadharbatla et al., 2019;Starosta et al., 2020;Steins-Loeber et al., 2020;Sung et al., 2015), others have found the opposite, especially when considering binge and problematic use as coping behaviors for mental health and stress (e.g., Perks, 2015Perks, , 2019. The present study's participants reported that they do generally feel better when they use media to manage certain aspects of their mental health, without strong evidence that such behaviors make them feel worse. ...
Depression and anxiety have recently increased among young adults. So, too, have the media behaviors of binge-watching and problematic viewing. Media may be an effective tool for coping with stress and mental health challenges. The present study examines mental health management gratifications sought and obtained via media using a uses and gratifications theory approach. An online survey of undergraduates in the United States (n = 247) found that young adults report binge-watching and using media to feel better when experiencing depression and anxiety, especially if they tend toward problematic media use. For anxiety, this appears to be a successful strategy, in that participants report reduced anxiety after binge-watching. For depression, however, the results are mixed. More research is needed in this area, but this study solidifies the potential importance of coping with mental health using binge-watching of media.
... In addition, it is emphasized that media consumption plays a crucial role in many people's daily lives, being actively used to recover from emotional and cognitive exhaustion (Perks, 2019). As a result, people may watch excessively to entertain themselves, cope with boredom, and prevent loneliness during isolation, or they may watch to escape the anxiety generated by worries about difficulties related to the pandemic scenario . ...
By implementing innovative ways of accessing the media, video-on-demand services have renewed the concept of watching television, leading to the growth and popularity of social behavior of content consumption in the form of marathons, known as binge-watching. There is an increase in literature discussions about potential adverse outcomes that can arise from the excess of these marathons. It is because the adversities of its excessive use can affect its users in the social, physical, and mental spheres. Given the relevance of this social problem, this research aims to understand the main determining predictors of the problematic practice of binge-watching. The research sample consisted of binge-watching practitioners (n=467). The linear and multivariate methods used Structural Equation Modeling by Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). As a result, the study showed that the practice, associated with the psychological predisposition of individuals, can lead to the development of negative symptoms similar to addiction to various technologies, compromising the individual’s life both physically and psychologically. This phenomenon intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic when binge-watching was used for distractions, entertainment, and the management of negative sensations arising from the pandemic. Finally, this research contributes to the proposition of an original theoretical model on the problematic practice of binge-watching. It brings elements to reflect from the ESG point of view, as companies must commit to their social governance, thinking of strategies to optimize the obtaining profits, in the present study, subscriptions, without compromising the health of individuals.
... Their analysis identified five major themes in which engaging in escapism that enables emotional and avoidance coping was one. Further, several participants reveal that they media marathoning or binge watching was the way to escape from reality or being distracted from their health concern (Perks, 2018). Furthermore, Wang (2019) administered a survey to 157 television binge-watchers to identify the role of different motivations for binge watching. ...
The present study explored the factors that facilitate binge-watching behavior among young adults. Previous researches determined that escapism, need for affect and transportation can be considered as the predictors of binge-watching. To testify the existing literature on binge-watching and factors contributing to this behavior, 350 university students took part in a survey. Findings revealed that need for affect and transportation significantly predict binge-watching while escapism failed to predict binge-watching behavior due to non-significant results. Moreover, this study finds out that phenomenon of binge-watching has no significant impact on gender. Based on the findings, we propose that factors facilitating binge-watching i.e., need for affect and transportation can have adverse effects on students' academic performance and mental well-being. Consequently, further researches need to adopt more holistic approach in investigating binge-watching and its effects.
... Binge-watching leads to emotional dysregulation, sleep problems, and loneliness (Gabbiadini et al., 2021). Binge-watching and loneliness reciprocally strengthen each other; a lonelier individual has a higher chance of using binge-watching as a coping mechanism (Perks, 2019). Additionally, a problematic binge is associated with low emotional stability (Alfonsi et al., 2023). ...
In the recent past, binge-watching has emerged as one of the most prevalent
pursuits among adults. Being a relatively new phenomenon, there is a
pressing need to examine the literature on the associations of binge
watching with various psychological correlates such as cognitive processes,
emotional regulation, moods and sleep patterns. Preferred Reporting Items
for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) model was
employed for this systematic review. Relevant articles were collected using
various databases including Google Scholar, Research Gate and PubMed.
This resulted in a collection of 209 articles which were further screened
based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Out of these
articles, 18 met the criteria and were included in the study. The findings
revealed noteworthy associations between binge-watching behavior;
particularly problematic patterns, and disruptions in mood and emotional
dysregulation. The systematic review highlighted that the phenomenon of
binge-watching as an addictive and problematic behavior has negative
outcomes for individuals such as compromised executive functioning as
well as cognitive deficits.
... 2019]. При этом некоторые практики медиапотребления, которые на первый взгляд кажутся нездоровыми, могут в действительности быть даже функциональными: например, было продемонстрировано, что медиамарафоны полезны для людей с нарушениями здоровья [Perks 2019]. ...
В последние годы исследователи уделяют большое внимание избыточному потреблению новостей. Однако обычно это явление рассматривается в нормативном ключе как слабоконтролируемое аддиктивное или аффективное поведение, и в фокусе внимания оказываются негативные эффекты избыточного медиапотребления. В предложенном исследовании мы даем слово самим думскроллерам – людям, которым свойственно чрезмерное и болезненное внимание к негативным новостям. Опираясь на 47 интервью, проведенных в период с 20.11.2022 по 30.03.2023 г., мы выделяем спектр причин и мотивов, которые способствовали переходу к избыточному потреблению информационного контента. Думскроллинг может обосновываться (1) индивидуальными чертами (высокая тревожность при отказе от новостей, аналитический склад ума, устойчивая психика) и потребностями (адаптация к ситуации или восстановление чувства/иллюзии контроля); (2) гражданским или моральным долгом; (3) социальными отношениями (забота о близких, социальное заражение, влияние социального окружения и поиск тем для обсуждения; поиск единомышленников; невозможность избежать; социализация). Описания думскроллинга как зависимости, аффективной реакции или следствия влияния внешних факторов менее представлены в интервью. Таким образом, мы не можем однозначно трактовать избыточное потребление негативных новостей ни как аддикцию или компульсивное поведение, ни как рациональный выбор наилучшей из имеющихся альтернатив.
... Escapism has also been found to be an especially strong motivator of bingewatching in college students (Panda & Pandey, 2017), a population notably vulnerable to stress and mental health problems (Pedrelli et al., 2015). That said, binge-watching can also be an effective emotion-focused coping strategy, such as for people undergoing recovery from a health issue for which there is little that they can do to actively speed along the healing process (Perks, 2019). Even so, escapist media use is generally seen as maladaptive or pathological, either in and of itself, or as a symptom of a deeper problem, such as when it fosters dependency and is associated with negative affect (Flayelle, Canale, et al., 2019; see also Nanda & Banerjee, 2020;Panda & Pandey, 2017;Starosta et al., 2019). ...
Binge-watching is an increasingly popular way to consume media whose impact on users has been shown to be, at times, both positive and negative. Aiming to reconcile the discrepancies of prior research with a more holistic approach, the present study assesses the potential impact of binge-watching while taking into account both the viewer’s motivational antecedents (i.e., coping/escapism, emotional enhancement) and individual differences (i.e., transportability, self-control, sensation seeking). In a sample of 251 participants, these variables and their myriad pathways were analyzed through structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Results show that binge-watching’s relationship with viewer well-being is contingent upon a complex array of associations between individual and motivational differences and the nature of one’s engagement in the activity. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, as well as the limitations of the study and their ability to inform future research on binge-watching.
... Mediale Unterhaltung kann durch die Vermittlung bedeutsamer Informationen als Erwerb von Wissen persönlich bereichernd wahrgenommen werden und bei der Bewältigung von Problemen helfen (Wirth et al. 2012). Selbst ein "Medienmarathon" kann eine Gelegenheit zur kognitiven, emotionalen, und körperlichen Regulation für Personen darstellen und als strategisches und aktives Copingverhalten mit potenziell gesundheitsförderlicher Wirkung verstanden werden (Perks 2019). Allerdings kann der exzessive Konsum von Bildmedien (binge watching) auch erhebliche negative Folgen haben, wenn etwa persönliche Ziele oder Verpflichtungen nicht eingehalten werden, was zu einem Anstieg von Schuldgefühlen führt (Granow et al. 2018 (Zillmann 1988) als Mittel zur Emotionsregulation verwendet. ...
... These creative arts help the patient to convalesce from emotional and cognitive exhaustion since patients with CNCDs grapple with psychological depletion, and frustrating physical pain [28][29][30]. This observation points to the role creative art plays in health promotion among people living with chronic diseases [3,29,[31][32][33]. ...
Background
Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (CNCDs) has become a major cause of mortality and disability globally. We explored the coping strategies adopted by CNCD patients and the roles of caregivers in the management of CNCDs in Ghana.
Methods
This was a qualitative study that adopted an exploratory design. The study was carried out at the Volta Regional Hospital. Purposive convenience sampling procedures were used to sample patients and caregivers. Data for the study were collected using in-depth interview guides. Data were collected among 25 CNCDs patients and 8 caregivers and analysed thematically using ATLAS.ti.
Results
Patients adopted a variety of strategies to cope with their condition. These strategies were emotion-oriented coping, task-oriented coping, and avoidance-oriented coping. Family members were the main caregivers, who provided social and financial support for patients. Financial challenges, inadequate family support, poor attitudes of health workers, delays at the health facility, unavailability of drugs at the facility, and patients’ non-adherence to the medical advice were major challenges that militated against caregivers’ efforts in supporting patients in the management of their CNCDs.
Conclusion
We found that patients adopted various strategies to cope with their conditions. The roles of the caregivers in supporting patients in the management practices were identified as very important as they contribute immensely to the financial and social support for the patients in their management of CNCDs. It is crucial that health professionals actively involve caregivers in every aspect of the day-to-day management of CNCDs as these caregivers spend more time with these patients and understand them better.
... Binge-watching is one of the ways in which they choose to spend their free time; it is planned and compatible with the rest of their life activities. This practice could even be considered beneficial from a cognitive, emotional, and physical perspective for those facing a health problem (Perks, 2019). ...
Binge-watching refers to the consecutive viewing of episodes of a fictional series, usually of the drama genre, in a single session. The approaches to its background, practice, and effects are diverse and controversial. Using a qualitative-exploratory approach analysed with Grounded Theory, this paper studies the experience of binge-watching users from data collected from a sample of 20 individuals combined with techniques such as group meetings, in-depth interviews and projective techniques. Results lead to the identification of two underlying patterns of behaviour associated with the consumption of dramatic content: planned binge-watching and unplanned binge-watching. Planned binge-watching is the intentional consumption of more than two consecutive episodes of a fictional series whose psychological effects are mainly gratification based on evasion. Planned series consumption has a socializing effect, especially among young people. Unplanned binge-watching is the unintentional and spontaneous chained viewing of more than two episodes of a fiction series. The viewing unit is each individual episode, linked to the next by the curiosity aroused by the plot. The psychological effects are gratification derived from evasion, followed by a feeling of guilt derived from the loss of control. The study concludes with the formulation of seven hypotheses for empirical verification, academic and professional implications, and future lines of research.
El «binge-watching» hace referencia al visionado consecutivo de episodios de una serie de ficción, generalmente del género dramático, en una sola sesión. Los enfoques sobre su origen, práctica y efectos son diversos y controvertidos. Mediante un enfoque cualitativo-exploratorio analizado con Teoría Fundamentada, este trabajo estudia la experiencia de los usuarios de «binge-watching» a partir de datos recogidos sobre una muestra de 20 individuos combinando técnicas como la reunión de grupo, la entrevista en profundidad y las técnicas proyectivas. Los resultados conducen a la identificación de dos patrones de comportamiento subyacentes asociados al consumo de contenidos dramáticos: el «binge-watching» planificado y el «binge-watching» no planificado. El «binge-watching» planificado es el consumo intencionado de más de dos episodios consecutivos de una serie de ficción cuyos efectos psicológicos son principalmente la gratificación basada en la evasión. El consumo planificado de series tiene un efecto socializador especialmente entre los jóvenes. El «binge-watching» no planificado es el visionado encadenado, no intencionado y espontáneo, de más de dos episodios de una serie de ficción. La unidad de visionado es cada episodio individual, vinculado al siguiente por la curiosidad que despierta la trama. Los efectos psicológicos son la gratificación derivada de la evasión, seguida de un sentimiento de culpa derivado de la pérdida de control. El estudio concluye con la formulación de siete hipótesis para su verificación empírica, implicaciones académicas y profesionales, y futuras líneas de investigación.
... Because binge-watching is 'defined through highly individualized terms and practices' (Jenner 2016, 265), and several scholars have used definitions other than watching three episodes in one day (as done here), participants were asked an additional question about their viewing experiences: 'When you watched at least 3 episodes of a show in a day, did you also complete a whole season of the show in 7 days or less?' Watching a season of a show in a week or less is my (Perks 2015) definition of media marathoning for television, and is a standard that Netflix utilised in a 2018 study (Netflix, Inc. 2018). This timespan also roughly aligns with what Netflix found to be the average time it takes viewers to complete a season: six days (Koblin 2016). ...
... In fact, escape motives are among the most significant reasons for using entertainment media, such as television (Vorderer and Klimmt, 2021). Nevertheless, individuals may adopt binge-watching behaviors as an effective coping strategy because it requires low effort (Perks, 2019): People whose energy reserves are depleted may be more likely to stumble into problematic binge-watching because of the undemanding nature of the activity. We suggest that bingewatching, due to the entertaining nature and ease-of-access of digital streaming services, allows lonely people to satisfy the need for escapism as a coping strategy to compensate for the lack of social ties, by identifying with a fictional character. ...
Nowadays, binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of a TV series in one session) has become a widespread practice of media consumption, raising concerns about its negative outcomes. Nevertheless, previous research has overlooked the underlying psychological mechanisms leading to binge-watching. In the present work, we investigated some of the psychological variables that could favor binge-watching tendencies in a sample of TV series viewers (N = 196). To this aim, psychological determinants of problematic digital technologies usage (i.e., feelings of loneliness), as well as some of the mechanisms related to the enjoyment of media contents (i.e., escapism and the identification with media characters), were considered as predictors of the tendency to binge-watch. Results indicated that higher feelings of loneliness were associated with higher levels of problematic digital technologies usage. Additionally, direct and indirect effects showed that only escapism – out of the four dimensions measuring the problematic use of Internet-related technologies – predicted participants’ stronger identification with media characters, which in turn promoted greater binge-watching tendencies. Overall, we suggest that binge-watching could be interpreted as a coping strategy for media escapists, who enjoy TV series as a privileged online space in which the need to escape finds its fulfillment, allowing them to manage loneliness by identifying with a fictitious character.
... Mediale Unterhaltung kann durch die Vermittlung bedeutsamer Informationen als Erwerb von Wissen persönlich bereichernd wahrgenommen werden und bei der Bewältigung von Problemen helfen (Wirth et al. 2012). Selbst ein "Medienmarathon" kann eine Gelegenheit zur kognitiven, emotionalen, und körperlichen Regulation für Personen darstellen und als strategisches und aktives Copingverhalten mit potenziell gesundheitsförderlicher Wirkung verstanden werden (Perks 2019). Allerdings kann der exzessive Konsum von Bildmedien (binge watching) auch erhebliche negative Folgen haben, wenn etwa persönliche Ziele oder Verpflichtungen nicht eingehalten werden, was zu einem Anstieg von Schuldgefühlen führt (Granow et al. 2018 (Zillmann 1988) als Mittel zur Emotionsregulation verwendet. ...
Menschen sind soziale Wesen. Das aufgrund der gesundheitlichen Gefährdungssituation durch das neuartige Coronavirus geltende Gebot der sozialen Distanzierung (social distancing), die nachdrückliche Aufforderung zuhause zu bleiben (stay at home) sowie die in vielen Ländern erlassenen Regelungen zu Kontaktverboten und Ausgangssperren stellen daher eine enorme Herausforderung dar. In diesem Kapitel wird die Rolle der Medien analysiert, deren Nutzung bei weitgehender Einschränkung der Bewegungsfreiheit besondere Bedeutung zukommt. Ausgehend von der individuellen Motivation, weiterhin mit Mitmenschen in Kontakt zu bleiben, wird anhand des medienpsychologischen Modells wechselseitiger Nutzung und Wirkung erläutert, welche Auswirkungen die Pandemie auf das Medienverhalten hat, aber auch, inwiefern die Mediennutzung Einstellungen und Verhalten in Bezug auf die Pandemie beeinflusst. In diesem Zusammenhang wird insbesondere auf die Rolle von Falschmeldungen und Verschwörungsvorstellungen zur Corona-Krise in sozialen Medien eingegangen, deren Auswirkungen werden beschrieben sowie mögliche Lösungsansätze vorgestellt.
... Selbst eine exzessive Mediennutzung, ein "Medienmarathon", kann eine Gelegenheit zur kognitiven, emotionalen, und körperlichen Regulation für Personen mit Gesundheitsproblemen darstellen. In diesem Fall kann die Intensivnutzung von Medien als strategisches und aktives Copingverhalten mit potenziell gesundheitsförderlicher Wirkung verstanden werden (Perks, 2019). Allerdings kann das sogenannte "Binge-watching", also der exzessive Konsum von Bildmedien, auch erhebliche negative Folgen haben, indem etwa persönliche Ziele oder Verpflichtungen nicht eingehalten werden, was zu einem Anstieg von Schuldgefühlen führt (Granow et al., 2018). ...
... For instance, if you are binge-watching a show, you cannot simultaneously consume that same content using an alternative television viewing practice. Similarly, if you engage in binge-watching in order to achieve emotional enhancement (Perks, 2019), it becomes a therapeutic exercise and can no longer be considered a recreational activity (see Flayelle et al., 2019). Thus, as is the case with other social roles, people only occupy one role at a time, even if they move between different roles in different circumstances. ...
This article uses a life course perspective and in-depth qualitative interviews to examine binge-watchers’ perceptions of their television viewing practices. Three central life course principles organizing this analysis are: 1. trajectories, transitions, and turning points, as well as the concepts of 2. social and historical context, and 3. linked lives. Findings suggest that respondents’ evaluations of binge-watching is conditioned by their past experiences, institutional shifts in media production and consumption, Western norms of productivity, and the television viewing practices of their family and friends. Through a life course perspective, this article maps the ways in which these factors collectively shape the experiences and attitudes of Canadian binge-watchers. Importantly, this study adds to the limited sociological scholarship on binge-watching by using a life course perspective to demonstrate the ways in which the television viewing practices of binge-watchers are informed by a complex array of social and personal factors. In using a life course perspective, this article is able to connect the binge-watching experience to long-term changes in one’s television viewing habits as they occur in social and biographical context, thereby enabling a holistic and multidimensional examination of binge-watchers’ interpretations of how, why, and when they watch television.
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 aim of the study is to discuss differences in defining the phenomenon of binge watching, and evolution of this process, considering research perspectives and problems explored by the authors. The in-depth literature analysis of 125 academic publications for the years 2014–2021 revealed the definition most often applied in the studies. Evolution of the interpretation of the binge watching term is also offered, related to increase of knowledge of motives, modes, and effects of binging, and finally, a proprietary definition of the phenomenon was proposed.
Binge behavior in media use became increasingly widespread with the growing popularity of online streaming platforms, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Binge‐watching is typically driven by anticipation of enjoyment and relaxation, desire to know how the narrative unfolds, fear of spoilers, and connection to other viewers. Binge media use was theorized and researched in relation to physical and mental health. For example, binge‐watching has been viewed both as a consequence of and a factor contributing to depression. Preliminary research suggests that binge‐watching may enhance involvement with media and can moderate persuasive effects of media exposure.
Binge Watching als die Rezeption von in der Regel fiktionalen medialen Formaten in hoher
Dosis (meist Serien) gilt als »die neue Norm« der Medienrezeption. So weit verbreitet das
Phänomen ist, so unklar ist es definiert und im Hinblick auf motivationale oder Persönlichkeitsfaktoren sowie positive und negative Begleiterscheinungen und Folgen beforscht. Der Terminus legt gleichwohl eine Nähe zu süchtigem und potenziell selbstschädigendem Verhalten nahe, sodass zu prüfen ist, wie Fragen nach gesundheitlichen, vor allem psychischen Risikofaktoren zu bewerten sind. Einige Formen
des Binge Watching werden diesbezüglich mit Schwierigkeiten in der Impulskontrolle, Selbststeuerung oder Emotionsregulierung in Verbindung gebracht. Der vorliegende Beitrag plädiert für eine differenzierte Sichtweise unter Einbezug des jeweiligen Kontextes und schlägt ein Drei-Komponenten-Modell der Psychologie des Binge Watching vor, das aus Selbstschädigung, Selbstfürsorge und Selbsterkundung besteht. Auf dieser
Grundlage werden Anregungen für die Therapie bei Persönlichkeitsstörungen gegeben.
Traditional media are being surpassed by Internet media content, which can be accessed by multiple Internet-enabled devices, when and where ever, often even during night-time. The constant availability and widespread use of these streaming media or video-on-demand services have led to changes in media consumption and usage patterns and video viewing behaviour. This study explores the temporal media consumption patterns of different video-on-demand services in Finland by analysing search engine queries, with the aim to investigate when prime-time for these services occurs. The data for this study were obtained from Google Trends, between 30 September and 1 December 2017. Results show that there are clear and recurring temporal patterns for video-on-demand service interest and media consumption in Finland. Popularity in Google searches for the different video-on-demand services start to rise in the evening and peak during night-time and clear troughs are visible during the morning hours and during the day. These strong diurnal characteristics point to a strong media behaviour and makes it easy to predict trends. It is evident that peaks in primetime for streaming media services are visible at night-time and have replaced the television set prime-time. These findings on behavioural patterns and habits might have new and disruptive implications in the post-television era, both on an individual and societal level.
The term ‘binge watching’ is common in popular media and is one of several new ways of TV viewing that capitalizes on the wide availability of digital video and streaming services. However, the term lacks clear conceptualization, and the underlying motivations associated with it remain under-explored. Results from eleven focus groups of university students in the United States suggest binge watching is characterized as viewing suspenseful dramatic, narrative content for a considerable amount of time: often more than three or four hours. Analyses revealed four emergent motivations that contribute to individuals binge watching: (1) anticipation of what was coming next – facilitated by both content and technology features, (2) management of moods and excitement/ arousal, (3) procrastination and escapism, (4) social goals – related to both co-viewing, discussing content with others and identification with characters. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.
This study proposes media audiences engage in 2 types of TV binge watching: intentional and unintentional. Using the differential susceptibility to media effects model as a framework, we draw from research on sensitivity theory and uses and gratifications to test whether unintentional binges are more likely to result in addiction symptoms, and whether this is due to impulsivity as a personality trait. Using an online survey, we find (a) most of our sample has engaged in both types of binge watching, (b) addiction symptoms were more common after unintentional binges, and (c) impulsivity exerts an indirect effect on addiction in the case of unintentional binging only, by increasing unintentional binging frequency. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
Despite the substantial attention paid to stress management in the extant coping literature, media use has been surprisingly overlooked as a strategy worthy of close examination. Although media scholars have suggested media use may be driven by a need to relax, related research has been sporadic and, until recently, disconnected from the larger conversation about stress management. The present research aimed to determine the relative value of media use within the broader range of coping strategies. Based on surveys of both students and breast cancer patients, media use emerged as one of the most frequently selected strategies for managing stress across a range of personality and individual difference variables. Further, heavier television consumers and those with higher perceived stress were also more likely to use media for coping purposes. Finally, those who choose media for stress management reported it to be an effective tool, although perhaps not as effective as other popular strategies. This research not only documents the centrality of media use in the corpus of stress management techniques, thus highlighting the value of academic inquiry into media-based coping, but it also offers evidence supporting the positive role media use can play in promoting psychological well-being.
This study explores how experience-based media messages featuring victims, survivors, and outperformers provide therapeutic benefits through the enjoyment and appreciation of the messages. Using the economic crisis as a context, our findings indicate that whereas distressed individuals were more likely to appreciate threat-related stories featuring victims and survivors over outperformers, nondistressed individuals were more likely to enjoy such stories featuring outperformers over victims and survivors. Appreciation and enjoyment of these threat-related stories predicted effective coping outcomes: positive reappraisal of the economic situation that also led to increased perceived control over the threat through positive affect. Health implications for enjoyment and appreciation of experience-based stories as motivators for coping outcomes are also discussed.
Today's constant availability of media content provides users with various recreational resources. It may also challenge self-control, however, once media exposure conflicts with other goals and obligations. How media users deal with these self-regulatory chances and risks in their daily lives is largely unknown. Our study addressed the predictors and consequences of recreational and procrastinatory media use using experience sampling methodology (N = 215; 1,094 media use episodes). Results suggest that trait (self-control, performance goal orientation) as well as state variables (exhaustion) are significant predictors of media use for recovery versus procrastination. Whereas recreational media use showed a positive effect on entertainment, which in turn enhanced subjective well-being, negative self-evaluation elicited by procrastinatory media use negatively affected well-being.
The purposes of the current study are (1) to conceptualize and test a social networking service (SNS) dependency measure and (2) to propose and test a general model of the effect of SNS dependency on online and offline interpersonal storytelling. This study is theoretically guided by media system dependency theory and communication infrastructure theory. Computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) were conducted with 477 SNS users aged 19–59 in Seoul in October of 2012. Confirmatory factor analyses results showed that our SNS dependency measure was valid and reliable. The results also confirmed that SNS dependency had direct effects on individual users’ levels of engagement with interactive activities on SNSs and indirect effects on offline interpersonal storytelling.
"Binge-watching" represents a radical shift for twenty-first century media consumption. Why do people select this method of television viewing? A survey administered to 262 television binge-watchers identified factors that influence binge watching, several of which are somewhat different than factors impacting other types of television viewing. Factors salient for regular bingers are relaxation, engagement, and hedonism. For those who plan ahead to binge, program quality (aesthetics) and the communal aspect (social) also come into play. Those who binge on an entire series in one or two days value engagement, relaxation, hedonism, and aesthetics. We also discuss the theoretical implications and future development of uses and gratifications.
Entertainment is fast becoming an all-you-can-eat buffet. Call it the Netflix effect.
Whatever our televisual drug of choice—Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, Homeland—we’ve all put off errands and bedtime to watch just one more, a thrilling, draining, dream-influencing immersion experience that has become the standard way to consume certain TV programs.
When Netflix released all fifteen episodes of a new season of Arrested Development in the summer of 2013, reports showed that approximately 10% of viewers made it through the entire season within twenty-four hours (Wallenstein). This was not the first time Netflix had released an entire season of an original program simultaneously and caused a nationwide video-on-demand stampede. When House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black premiered in 2013, huge percentages of Netflix subscribers watched back-to-back episodes, devouring a season of content in just days. Although these three shows belong to different genres—one a sitcom and the others adult-themed melodramas—what they share is an enormous popularity among the millennial cohort that makes up the majority of the subscriber base of Netflix. When all episodes of a season were released simultaneously, these shows inspired widespread marathon-viewing sessions for the eighteen-to-thirty-four age demographic and among the younger audiences of Netflix, many of whom binge watched and then took to social media to post their (largely positive) reviews of the first steps Netflix had taken to produce original TV content. To analyze the significance of these emergent digital media use trends, I explore in this essay some of that online discourse, unpacking two emerging patterns in young people’s on-demand media engagement with some of the most currently popular (and thus binge-worthy) Netflix shows, namely, the rising importance of social TV viewing practices and new expectations about the availability of commercial-free, high-quality, and original television content.
In the popular press, binge viewing and Netflix are becoming synonymous, especially for young viewers, including “screenagers.” Of course, not all millennials were “born digital” or have access to these services. Those who do, however, increasingly are not content to abide by traditional weekly and seasonal programming schedules: connected Gen Y (currently aged eighteen to thirty-four) and Gen Z (young people born after 2005) with access to these services are practising new television viewing styles using a variety of digital technologies, particularly subscription-based video on demand (VOD or SVOD) via Netflix. In 2013, according to research by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 63% of households in the United States used a video streaming and delivery service such as Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime (Solsman), and, as the Leichtman Research Group found, 22% of those households are streaming Netflix every single week of the year (“TV”). In English Canada, approximately 25% of residents have signed up for Netflix. In households with teens, that figure jumps to 33%, and it rises again to 37% in households with children under the age of twelve. (Oliviera). With its long-tail inventory of TV shows and movies, commercial-free viewing experience, and “post play” seamless episode delivery, Netflix is changing viewers’ expectations concerning what, how, and when they watch TV. As a result, viewers not surprisingly are watching more television, including in larger doses at a time.
This technological shift also has widespread impact on television program production decisions, distribution deals, and promotional strategies. The growing consumer preference for over-the-top (OTT) streaming services (instead of cable bundles) and video on demand (instead of appointment viewing) is having a disruptive effect on traditional television scheduling, ratings, advertising, and cable subscriptions. As a larger share of the TV audience consumes more TV shows via Netflix and other OTT services, some critics argue that such consumption practices interfere with the cultural unification effects (or “water cooler talk”) that bond people through shared, mass-mediated experiences. Especially for the Facebook generation (composed of teens and twenty-somethings, who consist of Gen Z and Gen Y, respectively), however, the Netflix effect that enables weekend-long binges on Arrested Development is not just about convenience and customization (although those are important) but also about...
This article addresses ego depletion as a mechanism influencing media-based stress recovery processes. Using structural equation modeling, relationships between ego depletion, procrastination, guilt, enjoyment, vitality, and recovery experience were tested using data from an online survey (N = 471). Results suggest that ego depletion may increase the risk of negatively appraising the use of interactive (video games) and noninteractive (television) entertaining media as a form of procrastination. The resulting guilt is negatively related to the recovery experience associated with using entertainment. Therefore, ego-depleted individuals may benefit less from the psychological recovery potential of entertainment media, despite their greater need for recovery. These findings are an important step in understanding the pivotal role of appraisal processes for media-induced recovery and the entertainment experience.
This paper explores the impact of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment experience on well-being. We propose that the satisfaction of recovery needs can provide an important link that connects recent 2-factor models of entertainment with well-being after media consumption. Using path modeling, relationships between hedonic/eudaimonic entertainment experiences, media-induced recovery experience, and vitality as a recovery outcome were explored in an experiment (N = 120). Results suggest that different recovery needs are satisfied by hedonic versus eudaimonic entertainment: Although hedonic entertainment experiences were associated with the recovery dimensions of relaxation and psychological detachment, eudaimonic entertainment was related to mastery experiences. Both entertainment facets, thus, lead to media-induced recovery and resulted in increased psychological well-being represented by higher levels of vitality after media use.
Research has established a positive relationship between Facebook use and perceptions of social capital, a construct that describes the total resources − both potential and actual − available in one’s social network. However, the process through which social capital conversions occur is unclear. This study presents results from semi-structured interviews with 18 adult Facebook users (ages 25 to 55) about their Facebook use, focusing on how participants use the site to request and provide social support (associated with bonding social capital) and information (associated with bridging social capital). Findings describe how Facebook use facilitates interactions related to social capital and users’ beliefs about the potential negative outcomes of these interactions, providing insight into how users negotiate potential benefits and risks when making decisions about site use.
Mood management theory predicts that people experiencing stress use television to block anxious thoughts and to replace dysphoric moods. In a survey of 491 adults, Study 1 found that stress as measured by life events was unrelated to time spent TV viewing but for women, was positively related to scores on a scale of television addiction. In Study 2, viewing diaries of 329 families were examined with relation to stressful life events. Mood management theory was confirmed in that stress was associated with increased comedy and decreased news in the viewing diet. Stressed women watched more game and variety programming as well as more overall TV. Stressed men watched more action and violent programming. Study 3 examined time-lapse video recordings of 140 adults' TV viewing at home. In men, there was a positive correlation of stress with amount of looking at the TV.
Recent research has linked the enjoyment of entertaining media to the satisfaction of intrinsic human needs (Tamborini, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard, & Organ, 201045.
Tamborini , R. , Bowman , N. D. , Eden , A. , Grizzard , M. and Organ , A. 2010 . Defining media enjoyment as the satisfaction of intrinsic needs . Journal of Communication , 60 : 758 – 777 . [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®]View all references; Tamborini, Grizzard, et al., in press). The present investigation addressed the satisfaction of recovery needs through the use of interactive and noninteractive entertaining media stimuli and the resulting recovery outcomes. In an experiment (N = 160), participants were first exposed to a working task to elicit the need for recovery and then randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: 1) a video game, 2) a video recording of a game, 3) an animated video clip, or 4) the control condition. The results demonstrate that interactive and noninteractive media stimuli elicit different patterns of recovery experience. Furthermore, recovery experience was significantly related to enjoyment as well as subjective (energetic arousal) and objective (cognitive performance) recovery outcomes. Enjoyment mediated the relationship between recovery experience and energetic arousal. The results demonstrate that the effects of need satisfaction associated with the use of entertaining media go beyond enjoyment and may affect recovery and psychological well being. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for research on the recovery effects of entertaining media and for current needs-based approaches to media enjoyment.
The use of video and computer games for recovery purposes was investigated in an online survey of 1614 participants. The data indicate that games are systematically used after exposure to stressful situations and strain, and that recovery experience is a significant facet of the gaming experience. Using structural equation modeling, the relationships among work-related fatigue, daily hassles, social support, coping style, recovery experience, and the use of video and computer games for recovery purposes were tested. Persons who associated stronger recovery experiences with game play used video and computer games more often after stressful and exhausting situations. In addition, participants’ level of work-related fatigue and exposure to daily hassles were both positively associated with the use of games for recovery. Participants with emotion-focused coping style showed a higher tendency to use games for recovery than participants with problem-focused coping style. The relationship between work-related fatigue and game use for recovery purposes was moderated by social support. The stress buffering function of video and computer games was more important for participants receiving less social support. These participants showed a stronger relationship between work-related fatigue and the use of games for recovery than participants receiving more social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies examined the reliability and validity of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES). In Study 1, each of 37 undergraduates rode an exercise bicycle under control and external focus conditions. As predicted, Ss reported enjoying the exercise more, as measured by the PACES, in the external focus condition. Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation in the control condition between Ss PACES scores and their scores on a measure of boredom proneness. In Study 2, each of 37 undergraduates rode an exercise bicycle and jogged on a minitrampoline in separate sessions; each then chose one of these activities for their 3rd session. As predicted, there was a significant relationship between Ss PACES ratings (completed after each activity) and their choices of activity. Test–retest reliability was high for jogging and moderate for bicycling. The PACES had high internal consistency in both studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Developed and validated the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS). In Study 1, a pool of items was administered to 96 faculty members (high-need-for-cognition group) and assembly line workers (low-need-for-cognition group). Ambiguity, irrelevance, and internal consistency were used to select items for subsequent studies. Factor analysis yielded one major factor. In Study 2, the NCS and the Group Embedded Figures Test were administered to 419 undergraduates to validate the factor structure and to determine whether the NCS tapped a construct distinct from test anxiety and cognitive style. The factor structure was replicated, and responses to the NCS were weakly related to cognitive style and unrelated to test anxiety. In Study 3, 104 undergraduates completed the NCS, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and a dogmatism scale. Results indicate that need for cognition was related weakly and negatively to being closeminded, unrelated to social desirability, and positively correlated with general intelligence. Study 4 (97 undergraduates) furnished evidence of the predictive validity of the NCS. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The use of tailored health communications has become a favored technique for persuading individuals to engage in health behaviors, such as screening mammography. This experiment examined the impact of tailoring persuasive health communications to one aspect of individuals' information-processing styles, that of the need for cognition (NFC), the enjoyment of thinking deeply about issues. To determine whether messages matched to an individual's NFC are more influential than mismatched messages, 602 women who called the Cancer Information Service (CIS) of the National Cancer Institute were asked to participate in an experiment at the end of their service call. They were assigned randomly to receive 1 of 2 phone messages promoting mammography use and a similarly tailored pamphlet 1 month later. Messages matched to an individual's NFC were better at motivating mammography 6 months later among high-NFC women. After controlling for prior mammography utilization, age, worry, intentions, perceived norms, suggestions to get a mammogram, and marital status, the interaction between participant NFC and message type also approached statistical significance. The differential influence of these brief, tailored communications diminished after 12 months, however.
Three studies explored the role of television viewing in eliciting subjective self-awareness and positive self-feelings. Study 1 assessed the effects of self-awareness manipulations via exposure to a neutral television program on actual-ideal discrepancies. Those who watched television showed significantly smaller self-discrepancies than those who did not, independent of mood. Study 2 demonstrated the ecological validity of this finding by replicating it with people watching television in their own homes. Study 3 investigated whether manipulations of self-feelings affected television watching. Results indicated that those who received failure feedback watched television longer than those in a control condition who likewise watched television longer than those who received success feedback. Television appears to be an effective stimulus to direct the focus away from oneself and to render people less aware of how they are falling short of their standards.
Drawing on the mood regulation and job-stress recovery literature, four self-report measures for assessing how individuals unwind and recuperate from work during leisure time were developed (Study 1). Confirmatory factor analyses with a calibration and a cross-validation sample (total N=930) showed that four recovery experiences can be differentiated: psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery, and control (Study 2). Examination of the nomological net in a subsample of Study 2 (N=271) revealed moderate relations of the recovery experiences with measures of job stressors and psychological well-being; relations with coping and personality variables were generally low (Study 3). Potential applications for the future use of these short 4-item measures in longitudinal and diary research are discussed.
Older adults watch more television than younger people do. Television's role in mental health has been described in the general population, but less is known about how older adults think of television in the context of depression.
Using a semistructured interview created to help clinicians understand how older adults conceptualize depression diagnosis and treatment, we conducted a qualitative study of 102 patients aged 65 years or older. We recruited them from primary care offices and interviewed them in their homes. During our analysis, we found that many respondents offered spontaneous thoughts about the relationship between television and depression. We extracted all television-related content from the interview transcripts and identified themes by using grounded theory.
Participants cited television as a way to identify depression in themselves or others (either through overuse or lack of interest) or as a way to cope with depressive symptoms. Some felt that television could be harmful, particularly when content was high in negativity. A substantial number of participants discussed more than one of these themes, and a few mentioned all three. Married people were more likely to discuss television's role in identifying depression. Participants with low education more often mentioned that television could be helpful, whereas those with a history of depression treatment were more likely to discuss television's potential harm.
Researchers should conduct further studies to help them better understand the relationship among depression, television viewing, and individual viewpoints concerning television's role in geriatric depression. An exploration of these issues may yield new approaches to help clinicians address depression in late life.
In this article, we explore how binge-watching culture and technology are changing the ways viewers understand and interact with television. We propose that the motives and rituals of binge-viewers can be used to expand uses and gratifications (U&G) theory. We conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews to gather thick descriptions of why people binge-watch, how they binge-watch, and how they feel about binge-watching. The findings indicate that (1) viewers’ primary motivations for binge-watching are catching up, relaxation, sense of completion, cultural inclusion, and improved viewing experience; (2) the portability and navigability of streaming video technology influence binge-watching rituals; and (3) viewers are ambivalent about their binge-watching. Based on the findings, we propose that a viewer attentiveness spectrum is a more accurate descriptor of contemporary TV watching than the passive/active dichotomy. We further argue that the changing motives and rituals of TV viewers can be used to bolster the quantitative surveys often employed in U&G research and to address the lingering criticisms of U&G theory.
This study focuses on the expanding trend of marathon (“binge”) television viewing. It examines the personality antecedents of such media consumption (attachment style, depression, and self-regulation deficiency) as well as the psychological experiences of marathon viewers relative to the narrative (transportation, enjoyment) and its characters (parasocial relationship, identification). In a two-study design, theoretical models of media use and involvement, on the one hand, and models of media addiction, on the other hand, are applied to predict the extent of marathon viewing and to compare it with “traditional” viewing. Results advance understanding of enjoyment and involvement theory and support cognitive theories of media addiction. At time same time, the study’s findings reveal that marathon television viewers are active both cognitively and emotionally during and after the media exposure, thus alleviating some concerns about the “problematic” nature of the “binge” viewing phenomenon.
The temporarily expanding boundaries of the self (TEBOTS) model identifies challenges faced by the self as a fundamental impetus for engagement with mediated narratives. To test how everyday pressures on the self influence enjoyment, appreciation, and immersion into narrative worlds, this study used self-affirmation to alleviate the everyday demands of self-concept maintenance, in an experimental design. When self-affirmed, people experienced less narrative engagement, consistent with the TEBOTS argument that the demands of self-concept maintenance motivate narrative engagement. Additionally, the study developed a boundary expansion scale that measured the processes described by TEBOTS. Finally, search for meaning in life was found to moderate effects, and the new boundary expansion measure mediated effects when search for meaning in life was high.
Binge watching is a relatively new behavioural phenomenon that may have health implications. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of, and identify modifiable factors associated with, TV binge watching. A total of 86 people completed an online questionnaire assessing self-efficacy, proximal goals, outcome expectations, anticipated regret, automaticity, goal conflict and goal facilitation, and self-reported binge watching over the last week. Participants reported binge watching a mean 1.42 days/week (standard deviation = 1.42). Intention and outcome expectations accounted for variance in binge watching, and automaticity, anticipated regret and goal conflict each separately accounted for additional variance in binge watching. Binge watching is commonplace and associated with both reflective and impulsive factors.
Although there is an increasing amount of research on social support in cyberspace, little is known about how Internet technologies influence social support among people who share offline personal relationships. The current study examined how friends' instant messenger (IM) status might influence individuals' coping and support-seeking, and what mechanisms could account for those effects. Four hundred and ninety-four college students read and responded to a hypothetical scenario in which they logged onto IM after experiencing a stressful situation. Participants perceived higher levels of self-efficacy, greater stress decrease, and greater likelihood of seeking support from a friend when the friend was said to be online than offline. Perceived social presence mediated the influence of a friend's online status on participants' coping and likelihood of seeking support from the friend.
Hope is associated with benefits for psychological and physical wellbeing; consequently, efforts to increase or sustain hopeful feelings are increasingly incorporated into wellness interventions. Although entertainment media provide a wealth of emotionally evocative content, little systematic attention has been given to discrete positive emotions and no investigations to date have identified narratives that generate hope. To address this gap, this research explores underdog narratives, or those depicting characters struggling to meet a goal despite unfavorable odds, as a means to evoke hope, as well as the effect of this emotional experience on subsequent goal-directed motivation. Participants (N = 248) were randomly assigned to one of three media conditions—underdog narrative, comedy, nature scenes—or a no-media control group. Those in the media groups viewed one 5-minute video clip a day for five consecutive days. Consistent with hypotheses, those in the underdog condition felt more hopeful and reported greater motivation to pursue their own goals than those in other conditions. Further, the emotional experience of hope was durable, with hopefulness remaining elevated above baseline levels up to three days after the final media exposure. Implications of these findings for media effects theory and health promotion are discussed.
Prior theory and research that has demonstrated the consequences of individuals' media-system dependencies upon selective exposure and message effects has not, however, addressed the equally important question of the determinants of individuals' media-system dependencies. The aim of this article is to present a sociological framework for the analysis of the macro and micro determinants of those media-system dependencies. The configuration of determinants that constitute this framework includes structural dependencies between the media and other social systems, characteristics of the social environs, media-system activity, interpersonal discourse networks, the sociostructural location of individuals, and personal goals.
Bored versus stressed subjects were provided with opportunities to watch television. Bored subjects more frequently selected exciting than relaxing programs, while stressed subjects selected similar quantities of each program type.
It is suggested that one of the reasons that there is such a lack of clarity as to whether the media have effects is that researchers have proceeded from the wrong theoretical conceptualizations to study the wrong questions. The dependency model of media effects is presented as a theoretical alternative in which the nature of the tripartite audience-media-society relationship is assumed to most directly determine many of the effects that the media have on people and society. The present paper focuses upon audience dependency on media information resources as a key interactive condition for alteration of audience beliefs, behavior, or feelings as a result of mass communicated in formation. Audience dependency is said to be high in societies in which the media serve many central information functions and in periods of rapid social change or pervasive social conflict. The dependency model is further elaborated and illustrated by examination of several cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects which may be readily analyzed and researched from this theoretical framework.
A quasiexperiment tested competing hypotheses regarding escapist media use and alternative coping motivations in media selection behavior. For 287 participants, personal satisfaction levels for five life domains were assessed. In an ostensibly unrelated study, the participants browsed through online content in which some section topics corresponded to the life domains. Selective exposure was unobtrusively logged by software. Lower satisfaction with college and career situation and with personal financial situation was associated with longer exposure to information about college and career issues. Among respondents in a romantic relationship, higher satisfaction with personal romantic situation led to longer reading times for articles about romance issues, whereas among single respondents, lower satisfaction with one's romantic situation was connected to longer reading of such content. Satisfaction with own health and exposure to health information showed a curvilinear pattern, as low and high satisfaction produced lower exposure than moderate satisfaction.
Summarizes existing psychological data on TV addiction and TV addicts and presents 4 theoretical models of TV addiction. These models suggest that TV addiction is (1) based on TV's effects on imagination and fantasy life, (2) a function of TV's effects on arousal level, (3) a manifestation of oral, dependent, or addictive personality, and (4) a distinct pattern of uses and gratifications associated with the TV medium. Research indicates that the TV medium can effectively relax and distract viewers and decrease negative affect. Viewers may come to depend on this effect and use the medium to excess. It remains to be determined whether or not such a use of TV for affect modulation constitutes a significant impediment to adaptive functioning for a significant number of persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The author has proposed and experimentally tested the mood adjustment approach, complementing mood management theory. Participants were placed in an initial mood and led to anticipate different activities after the waiting period. The upcoming activities were either dynamic or lengthy (arousal) and associated with either pleasure or performance (valence), resulting in a 2 × 2 design. During an ostensible waiting period, participants listened to choices of popular music at their will in a computer-aided procedure. This music taken from the Top 30 charts had been evaluated in a pretest for energy and joyfulness as musical qualities in order to create sets of musical selections that were either low or high in these qualities. In the experiment proper, selective exposure to energetic-joyful music as dependent measure was unobtrusively recorded via software. Results regarding self-exposure across time show that patterns of music listening differ with initial mood and anticipation, lending support to mood adjustment hypotheses. Mood management processes occurred in the beginning of the waiting period, whereas mood adjustment purposes set in toward the anticipated activity.
Germans spend an average of more than 3 hours watching television each day. Among them, there are many who turn on their TV sets for less than 1.5 hours a day, and others who do this for more than 8 hours a day. What accounts for these differences? The central thesis in this paper is that individuals may be distinguished by their attitude toward thinking and that differences in their need for cognition explain the differences in their time spent with TV. The lower viewers' need for cognition is, the less pleasant they feel when they have nothing to do because there is nothing left to do but think. The easiest way for individuals to escape this pressure to think is by watching TV. Thus, individuals will watch more TV when they have a lower need for cognition. Results of a survey study show that the concept of escapism proves to be useful in explaining TV use when it takes over a psychological perspective as well as a sociological one.
The current research examines the Social Surrogacy Hypothesis: parasocial relationships in favored television programs can provide the experience of belonging. Four studies support the hypothesis. Study 1 demonstrated that people report turning to favored television programs when feeling lonely, and feel less lonely when viewing those programs. Study 2 demonstrated that experimentally activating belongingness needs leads people to revel longer in descriptions of favored (but not non-favored) television programs. Study 3 demonstrated that thinking about favored (but not non-favored) television programs buffers against drops in self-esteem and mood and against increases in feelings of rejection commonly elicited by threats to close relationships. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that thinking about favored television programs reduces activation of chronically activated rejection-related words. These results yield provocative preliminary evidence for the Social Surrogacy Hypothesis. Thinking about valued television programs appears to yield the experience of belongingness.
Lonely, depressed people are more likely to binge-watch TV
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The relationships between television viewing behaviors, attachment, loneliness, depression, and psychological well-being (Unpublished honors thesis). Georgia Southern University
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