Past research has examined the effects of entertainment narratives on story-related behaviors, but most has focused primarily on dramatic genres rather than comedy. The present study examines how the presence or absence of pregnancy-related humor influences viewers' counterarguing, perceived severity, and intentions to engage in unprotected sexual behavior. Results were consistent with expectations in that related humor reduced counterarguing while also trivializing the severity of the consequences of sexual behavior. When the pregnancy storyline was presented in its original humorous context, viewers reported greater intentions to engage in unprotected sex than when pregnancy was presented in a more serious tone. Model testing clarified this finding by revealing the underlying mechanisms. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Spoilers are stigmatized as the potential ruin of narrative experience, and many people avoid them for the fear that exposure will, well, spoil the narrative. However, previous research indicates that spoilers can actually increase enjoyment. The present study tests mental model resonance as a mechanism for how spoilers influence enjoyment of media content in a real-world context, using a 2-part survey administered before and after the finale of a long-running TV series. Fan theories about content are also offered as a related, but separate issue from spoiler exposure. Parasocial breakup distress is tested as a previously unexamined outcome of spoiler and fan theory exposure. Results suggest that exposure to spoilers and belief in fan theories increase enjoyment and decrease parasocial breakup distress after a TV series finale, and this is mediated by mental model resonance.
Conformity is thought to be an important force in human evolution because it has the potential to stabilize cultural homogeneity within groups and cultural diversity between groups. However, the effects of such conformity on cultural and biological evolution will depend much on the particular way in which individuals are influenced by the frequency of alternative behavioral options they witness. In a previous study we found that in a natural situation people displayed a tendency to be ‘linear-conformist’. When visitors to a Zoo exhibit were invited to write or draw answers to questions on cards to win a small prize and we manipulated the proportion of text versus drawings on display, we found a strong and significant effect of the proportion of text displayed on the proportion of text in the answers, a conformist effect that was largely linear with a small non-linear component. However, although this overall effect is important to understand cultural evolution, it might mask a greater diversity of behavioral responses shaped by variables such as age, sex, social environment and attention of the participants. Accordingly we performed a further study explicitly to analyze the effects of these variables, together with the quality of the information participants' responses made available to further visitors. Results again showed a largely linear conformity effect that varied little with the variables analyzed.
Although spoilers are commonly believed to ruin the experience of a story, recent research has produced conflicting results about the role spoilers play in enjoyment. In response, scholars have begun to explore factors that impact the relationship between spoilers and the narrative experience. A series of three studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between spoilers and processing fluency by examining how expectations regarding a narrative's ending can interact with spoilers to affect fluency and the resulting enjoyment. Three online between-subjects experiments exposed participants to a spoiled or unspoiled preview and then assigned them to watch the season finale of a long-running sitcom with either the original ending that defied expectations or an alternate ending that aligned with genre conventions. Results reveal that both spoilers and whether an ending is expected have a complex relationship with fluency, with the three studies producing slightly different interactions between these two variables. In all three studies, fluency was associated with increased enjoyment.
Public Policy Relevance StatementThree experiments found mixed results for the relationship between spoilers and processing fluency, and, subsequently, about the impact of spoilers on enjoyment. It is still to be determined whether seeking spoilers about a narrative event is likely to help or hinder enjoyment by impacting fluency.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.