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Affective Disposition Theory in Suspense: Elucidating the Roles of Morality and Character Liking in Creating Suspenseful Affect

Brookes, Sarah
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1365522015

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
According to affective disposition theory, our enjoyment of narratives is a function of our feelings toward characters and perceived justness of the outcomes they encounter. Research on suspense has demonstrated that liking characters leads to greater suspense, and that morally just outcomes are associated with greater enjoyment of the narrative. However, additional factors may be relevant in this context. More specifically, perceived threat may act as a complement to character liking, and timing of narrative events may alter the impact of morality. Two studies were conducted in an effort to both complement and challenge affective disposition theory. Study 1 revealed that greater character liking, self-threat, and character-threat are all associated with more suspense and, through excitation transfer, more enjoyment. The first study also found threat to be positively associated with identification, liking, and transportation. Study 2 demonstrated that valence of a midpoint narrative outcome does not necessarily matter for suspense, in that a protagonist’s extreme success and extreme failure in the middle of the narrative were associated with roughly the same amount of suspense. Implications for affective disposition theory are discussed.
Emily Moyer-Guse (Advisor)
David Ewoldsen (Committee Member)
Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick (Committee Member)
Daniel McDonald (Committee Member)
Communication; Mass Media
affective disposition theory; suspense; character liking; transportation; identification; morality

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Brookes, S. (2013). Affective Disposition Theory in Suspense: Elucidating the Roles of Morality and Character Liking in Creating Suspenseful Affect [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1365522015

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Brookes, Sarah. Affective Disposition Theory in Suspense: Elucidating the Roles of Morality and Character Liking in Creating Suspenseful Affect. 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1365522015.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Brookes, Sarah. "Affective Disposition Theory in Suspense: Elucidating the Roles of Morality and Character Liking in Creating Suspenseful Affect." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1365522015

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1365522015
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.