Defining Media Enjoyment as the Satisfaction of Intrinsic Needs

Abstract

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.

Emotional Gratification in Entertainment Experience. Why Viewers of Movies and Television Series Find it Rewarding to Experience Emotions

“…This limitation clearly results from the focus EMOTIONAL GRATIFICATIONS 31 on non-interactive entertainment media such as movies and TV series. Studies on need satisfaction in the context of interactive entertainment (Reinecke et al, in press;Tamborini et al, 2010) have found that mastering the challenges presented in video games can satisfy individuals' needs for competence and autonomy, which in turn leads to greater enjoyment of the game. It is therefore important to keep in mind that interactive entertainment can satisfy intrinsic needs and promote psychological well-being in ways that are not covered by the present scales.…”

“…The first type of entertainment gratification that is based on affect regulation is relatively well researched (for overviews, see Knobloch-Westerwick, 2006;Oliver, 2009;Vorderer, Klimmt, & Ritterfeld, 2004), whereas evidence concerning the role of emotional entertainment experiences in the gratification of social and cognitive needs has only recently begun to emerge in a consistent manner (cf., Cupchik, 2011;Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Oliver & Raney, 2011;Reinecke, Tamborini, Grizzard, Lewis, Eden, & Bowman, in press;Tamborini et al, 2010;Vorderer & Ritterfeld, 2009). The present research aims to advance this line of inquiry by providing a systematic assessment of gratifications that can be directly or indirectly associated with the experience of emotions in media use, and by analyzing how different kinds of emotions can contribute to different types of entertainment gratification.…”

“…However, a growing number of "non-hedonistic" approaches have also been developed to account for the appeal of media experiences that are not readily explained in terms of pleasant, exciting or otherwise desirable feelings (cf., Cupchik, 1994;Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Tamborini, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard, & Organ, 2010;Vorderer & Ritterfeld, 2009). Relevant to the present topic, non-hedonistic forms of entertainment gratification are often assumed to involve emotions as well, though on a different theoretical level.…”

“…These similarities might best be described in terms of a sense of meaning and social connectedness that individuals seem to seek in entertainment. Recent developments in entertainment theory (Oliver & Raney, 2011;Reinecke et al, in press;Tamborini et al, 2010;Vorderer & Ritterfeld, 2009) have begun to incorporate these types of psychosocial needs by linking entertainment research with research on psychological well-being. Different concepts have been adopted in this context, including lower order vs. higher order needs (Maslow, 1943), subjective vs. psychological well-being (Keyes, Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002), and hedonic vs. eudaimonic well-being (Ryan, Huta, & EMOTIONAL GRATIFICATIONS 30 Deci, 2008;Waterman, 1993).…”

“…Recent conceptualizations of entertainment as an intrinsically rewarding activity (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Sherry, 2004;Tamborini, et al, 2010;Vorderer, Steen, & Chan, 2006) have provided a useful and parsimonious formula that covers both aspects of entertainment gratification, that is, rewarding feelings as well as psychosocial functions of entertainment. Through the lens of an intrinsic motivation framework (cf., Csikszentmihalyi, 1990;Ryan, Huta, & Deci, 2008), media experiences are entertaining to the extent that the affective, cognitive and social aspects of the experience are gratifying in and of themselves, independent of extrinsic rewards.…”