Media psychologists have long puzzled over how individuals can experience enjoyment from entertainment such as tragedies that often elicit profound feelings of sadness. The present research examines the idea that a focus on ''meaningful'' entertainment and affective responses identified as ''elevation'' may provide a framework for understanding many examples of sad or dramatic entertainment. The results of this study suggest that many types of meaningful cinematic entertainment feature portrayals of moral virtues (e.g., altruism). These portrayals, in turn, elicit feelings of elevation (e.g., inspiration) that are signified in terms of mixed affect and unique physical responses (e.g., lump in throat). Ultimately, elevation also gives rise to motivations to embody moral virtues, such as being a better person or helping others.doi:10.1111/j. 1468-2958.2012.01427.x The assumed importance of positive affect in media enjoyment is reflected in a number of notable entertainment theories. For example, disposition theory generally argues that viewers experience the greatest pleasure (and hence enjoyment) when liked characters are depicted as triumphant and disliked characters as castigated or suffering (Zillmann, 1991). Likewise, mood-management theory conceptualizes entertainment consumption in hedonistic terms, arguing that the termination of negative moods and the maintenance of positive moods guide many entertainment choices (Zillmann, 2000).The emphasis placed on positive affect has resulted in considerable theorizing among scholars who have tried to understand the seeming paradoxical enjoyment of entertainment that fails to conform to hedonic considerations. In particular, scholars have presented a variety of explanations to try to account for the enjoyment of sad or tragic entertainment, and how or why viewers may experience gratification from entertainment that features beloved characters suffering and that successfully elicits sadness and tears among audience members. Among the many explanations that Corresponding author: Mary Beth Oliver; e-mail: mbo@psu.edu Elevation and Moral Virtuehave been considered are the idea that the experience and expression of sadness may be cathartic (Cornelius, 1997), that tragedies may provide viewers the opportunity to engage in downward-social comparison (Mares & Cantor, 1992), or that at a meta-emotional level, viewers may find some enjoyment or gratification in feeling sadness (e.g., ''wallowing in grief'') (Bartsch, Vorderer, Mangold, & Viehoff, 2008;Oliver, 1993;Zillmann, 1998).In this article, we do not want to suggest that extant research on the enjoyment of sad films or tragedies is misplaced. Rather, our intention is to provide an additional perspective on this seemingly puzzling enjoyment by broadening the conceptualization of audiences' responses. Specifically, in this article, we test the idea that many forms of meaningful entertainment (including many sad films) may elicit feelings of elevation-an other-praising affective response to witnessing moral beauty that ...

On average, girls and women are less involved with video games than are boys and men, and when they do play, they often prefer different games. This article reports two studies that investigated the dislikes of German females with regard to video games. Study 1 applied conjoint analysis to female respondents' (N = 317) ratings of fictional video games and demonstrated that lack of meaningful social interaction, followed by violent content and sexual gender role stereotyping of game characters, were the most important reasons why females disliked the games. Study 2, an online survey (N = 795), revealed that female respondents were less attracted to competitive elements in video games, suggesting an explanation for gender-specific game preferences. These findings are discussed with respect to communication theory on interactive entertainment and their implications for applied video game design.

Parasocial interaction and parasocial relationship are often conflated conceptually and methodologically, leaving researchers unclear as to which concept is being tapped. This research clarifies these concepts and experimentally compares the most common measure of parasocial interaction, the Parasocial Interaction Scale (PSI-Scale), with a newer measure, the Experience of Parasocial Interaction Scale (EPSI-Scale). Participants (N = 383) viewed a brief videorecording of a woman who either bodily addressed the viewer or not, then completed a questionnaire. The EPSI-Scale was a better measure of parasocial interaction, understood as a within-viewing experience of mutual awareness, whereas the PSI-Scale may measure short-or long-term liking, or something else. To avoid conceptual and empirical confusion, researchers must choose measures with greater care.

Linking back to D. Horton and R. Wohl (1956)

Research on parasocial interactions (PSI)