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Media enjoyment as a function of individual responses and emotional contagion

Lin, Shu-Fang
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123862440

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
Media enjoyment is one of the vital factors that support the media industry business and important aspect of media consumption. However, the real nature of media enjoyment has not been clearly explicated. This study defines media enjoyment as viewers’ positive reactions toward the whole media experiences and proposes that both individual and social responses toward media content contribute to viewers’ overall experiences of media enjoyment. Adopting the idea of emotional contagion, this study suggests that viewers tend to be affected by other viewers and synchronize their enjoyment with others. In this study, enjoyment of mediated communication in dyadic situations is diagrammed as a simple triangle relationship. Two concepts play major roles in the relationship: enjoyment and orientation. This study suggests that orientation, which is defined as a viewer’s attitudes toward specific attributes of the film, first influence the viewer’s overall media enjoyment while viewing. Through emotional contagion effects, the enjoyment of the viewer further changes his/her peer viewer’s level of enjoyment of the media content. Five main hypotheses are proposed in the study. Issues such as enjoyment agreement between dyadic and individual viewing, changes of enjoyment over time, the effects of different combination of orientation in dyads on media enjoyment, and seating effects are proposed and examined. The study finds evidence supporting the idea that media enjoyment is influenced both by individual responses and emotional contagion effects. It is found that participants in dyadic and individual conditions demonstrate different patterns of media enjoyment, while examining patterns of enjoyment agreement between participants, fluctuation of enjoyment variation over time, different orientation combinations on enjoyment, and effects of seating proximity. The result of the study concludes several significant findings: participants sitting in dyads tend to agree in their enjoyment with the peer viewers than participants who sat alone; participants sitting in the middle seats have significantly less enjoyment than the viewers of the front and back seats; and participants who sit close to each other have more agreement in their enjoyment. All the evidence supports the idea that media enjoyment is a function of individual response and emotional contagion.
Daniel McDonald (Advisor)
140 p.
Media enjoyment; Emotional contagion; Orientation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lin, S.-F. (2005). Media enjoyment as a function of individual responses and emotional contagion [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123862440

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lin, Shu-Fang. Media enjoyment as a function of individual responses and emotional contagion. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123862440.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lin, Shu-Fang. "Media enjoyment as a function of individual responses and emotional contagion." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123862440

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1123862440
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© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.