YouTube for Good: A Content Analysis and Examination of Elicitors of Self-Transcendent Media

Abstract

Despite the increased attention to eudaimonic media experiences, to date scholars have paid little attention to the specific portrayals responsible for those experiences. Study 1 of this project reports the first systematic content analysis of self-transcendent media-a particular type of eudaimonic media-using a sample of 100 "inspirational" YouTube videos. The presence of 20 specific elicitors associated with self-transcendent emotions was examined and reported. In Study 2, respondents provided real-time self-transcendent emotional reactions while viewing 3 "inspirational" videos. As expected, ratings significantly increased immediately following exposure to each specific elicitor. Thus, this project reports the first empirical evidence directly linking specific representations to content identified as "inspirational" and directly linking those representations to self-transcendent emotional reactions.

Self-transcendent emotions and social media: Exploring the content and consumers of inspirational Facebook posts

“…----Insert Table 1 here----To explore the co-presence of elicitors (RQ1b), we first summed the direct and modeled elicitors within each of the four conceptual groupings (following the analyses of Dale et al, 2017b). Doing so allows us to gain a better understanding of the kinds of elicitors that may appear in tandem in Facebook posts.…”

“…The coding system for this analysis was developed by Dale and her colleagues (2017b), based on the discussion of self-transcendent emotions and trait transcendence in Peterson and Seligman (2004), which identifies four behavioral manifestations of transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, and religiousness/spirituality. Previous research has shown that online media content contains depictions of known elicitors of these behavioral manifestations as well as portrayals of individuals enacting these behaviors (Dale et al, 2017b). The first of these two portrayals, the known elicitors, are referred to as direct elicitors and consist of elicitors that can inspire selftranscendent emotions.…”

“…A few recent studies have examined the specific portrayals and representations that might elicit self-transcendent emotional experiences within television, film, and online video content identified as "inspirational" by audiences, creators, and content providers (Dale et al 2017a;Dale et al, 2017b). These studies examined elicitors of self-transcendent emotions, which include behaviors and experiences that can evoke specific emotions-in this case, appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, and religiousness.…”

“…Using a similar approach, Rieger and Klimmt (2019) found that "#inspirational" and "#meaningful" Tumblr memes contained similarly frequent depictions of elicitors of hope, appreciation of beauty and excellence, and moral beauty/virtue. The purpose of Study 1 is to further explore self-transcendent content on social media by applying a similar quantitative content analysis approach as used by Dale and colleagues (2017a;2017b) to examine Facebook posts. To better understand the nature of this content, posts from 50 leading "inspirational" Facebook pages were analyzed.…”

Moving Through The Literature: What Is The Emotion Often Denoted Being Moved?

“…According to their definition, being moved can be regarded as a mixed emotion predicting enjoyment of aesthetic stimuli. Being moved as related to media enjoyment has sometimes been characterized as belonging to the class of self-transcendent emotions (Dale, Raney, Janicke, Sanders, & Oliver, 2017;Oliver et al, 2018;Stellar et al, 2017). According to Stellar et al (2017), self-transcendent emotions are experienced as pleasant, other-oriented, and function to bind individuals together (typical examples include awe, compassion, gratitude, and elevation; see also van Cappellen, Saroglou, Iweins, Piovesana, & Fredrickson, 2013).…”