Entertainment as Pleasurable and Meaningful: Identifying Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Entertainment Consumption

Oliver, Mary Beth; Raney, Arthur A.

doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01585.x

Cited by 500 publications

(671 citation statements)

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“…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.…”

Section: Rationale Of the Present Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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).…”

Section: Emotional Gratifications 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to social and parasocial relationship functions, the factor contemplative emotional experiences highlights the relevance of another emerging research topic, that is the role of entertainment in stimulating rewarding cognitive experiences (cf., Cupchik, 2011;Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Oliver & Raney, 2011;Vorderer & Ritterfeld, 2009). This factor is akin to the "appreciation" factor in Oliver and Bartsch's (2010) research that is characterized by meaningful, moving, and thought-provoking experiences.…”

Section: Emotional Gratifications 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A related type of entertainment experience that is focused on the experience of emotional meaning and contemplativeness has been conceptualized by Oliver (2008;Oliver & Bartsch, 2010;Oliver & Raney, 2011) based on the distinction in ancient philosophy between hedonic and eudaimonic happiness (Aristotle, trans. 1931).…”

Section: Eudaimonic Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2012

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Section: Rationale Of the Present Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Emotional Gratifications 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Emotional Gratifications 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eudaimonic Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2012

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“…Drawing from Aristotle's conceptualization, Ryff and Singer (1998) associate eudaimonia with living well and seeking to further one's purpose in life. Extending this distinction to motivations for entertainment consumption, recent theorizing has proposed that there are eudaimonic reasons for media consumption that are inherently gratifying, but may not be considered fun or pleasurable in the traditional hedonic sense (Oliver, 2008;Oliver & Raney, 2011). Eudaimonic motivations for media consumption include anticipations of "greater insight, self reflection, or contemplations of poignancy or meaningfulness" (Oliver, 2008, p. 42).…”

Section: Entertainment Use Motivation Transportation and Narrative mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Subtext Processing in Narrative Persuasion: The Role of Eudaimonic Entertainment-Use Motivation and a Supplemental Conclusion Scene

Cohen

2016

Communication Quarterly

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This study sought to expand current narrative persuasion models by examining the role of subtext processing. The extended elaboration likelihood model suggests that transportation leads to persuasion by reducing counterarguments to stories' persuasive subtexts. The model implicitly argues that transportation should reduce total subtext processing, including counterarguments and intended elaboration. But this study reasoned that people with stronger eudaimonic motivation to have meaningful entertainment experiences, would put more effort into processing stories' subtexts while engaging with the narrative. Because less eudaimonically motivated individuals may be at risk for missing the subtext, it was also expected that adding a supplemental conclusion scene that reiterates the intended message would facilitate persuasion.Following a pre-test survey, 201 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view an episode of the crime drama Numb3rs: one of two versions of "Harvest," designed to promote organ donation (with or without a conclusion scene), or a control episode. After viewing, participants completed a thought-listing task and second survey.Results show that "Harvest" did not result in persuasive outcomes related to organ donation. Transportation was a marginally significant positive predictor of total subtext processing. Contrary to predictions, eudaimonic motivation negatively predicted amount of total subtext processing.Eudaimonic motivation also negatively (but marginally) predicted doctor mistrust, but this effect was moderated by conclusion condition: eudaimonic motivation was negatively associated with doctor mistrust only in the no conclusion condition. Eudaimonic motivation was also negatively (but marginally) associated with intended elaboration. Further examination showed that, compared to people with low eudaimonic motivation, those with high eudaimonic motivation were less likely to engage in intended elaboration, but only in the no conclusion condition. This pattern of findings provides indirect evidence that intended elaboration was responsible for decreasing doctor mistrust among people with high eudaimonic motivation who saw the conclusion. But surprisingly, intended elaboration was not directly related to any persuasive outcomes.The findings tentatively suggest that transportation and subtext processing can coexist and that eudaimonic motivation can affect the extent to which viewers engage in subtext processing during narrative engagement. The results also indicate that supplemental conclusions may be useful tools for narrative persuasion. Nobody has influenced my development as a scholar more than Cindy Hoffner. Her research and teaching inspired me, and her mentorship gave me the skills, professional socialization, and confidence to become an independent scholar. This dissertation is a direct product of her hours of dedication, her firm guidance, her unrelenting patience, and her unwavering faith in me. I hope that I one day have the opportunity to be half as good a mentor to ...

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Affective Disposition Theory

Raney

2017

The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects

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Affective disposition theory refers to a set of explanations for why and how an audience member enjoys various media entertainment narratives. In simple terms, the theory predicts that enjoyment increases when liked characters experience positive outcomes and/or when disliked characters experience negative ones. Conversely, enjoyment diminishes when liked characters experience negative outcomes and/or disliked characters experience positive ones. Thus, broadly speaking, the theory is composed of three psychological processes or components: the dispositions formed and held toward characters, emotional reactivity to the plights of those characters, and the viewer's hedonic response to the ultimate resolution of the narrative. Empathy and morality play primary roles in these processes and help to explain variance in emotional responses to and enjoyment of media entertainment across viewers.

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Entertainment as Pleasurable and Meaningful: Identifying Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Entertainment Consumption

Cited by 500 publications

References 38 publications

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

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

Exploring Subtext Processing in Narrative Persuasion: The Role of Eudaimonic Entertainment-Use Motivation and a Supplemental Conclusion Scene

Affective Disposition Theory

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