{"title":"Touched by Tragedy","authors":"Enny Das, Lisette te Hennepe","doi":"10.17026/dans-z6p-nf4x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Humans avoid thinking about death, yet they often watch tragic movies in which the main characters die. Seeking to explain this paradox, this research assessed conditions that motivate narrative processing of tragic movies about the loss of a loved one. Participants were assigned to a 3 (Mortality Salience of Self vs. Loved One vs. Control) × 2 (Movie Ending: Meaningful vs. Open) factorial design ( N = 187), and then completed measures of death-thought accessibility, mixed affect, boundary expansion, and identification. The two different mortality salience conditions increased death-thought accessibility in the same way. However, only mortality salience of a loved one increased mixed affect for movies with meaningful endings, which, in turn, predicted identification with the protagonist and boundary expansion into the story world. The findings suggest that movies about loss with meaningful endings may invite viewers to emotionally process the fundamental fear of losing a loved one.","PeriodicalId":46730,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-z6p-nf4x","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Abstract. Humans avoid thinking about death, yet they often watch tragic movies in which the main characters die. Seeking to explain this paradox, this research assessed conditions that motivate narrative processing of tragic movies about the loss of a loved one. Participants were assigned to a 3 (Mortality Salience of Self vs. Loved One vs. Control) × 2 (Movie Ending: Meaningful vs. Open) factorial design ( N = 187), and then completed measures of death-thought accessibility, mixed affect, boundary expansion, and identification. The two different mortality salience conditions increased death-thought accessibility in the same way. However, only mortality salience of a loved one increased mixed affect for movies with meaningful endings, which, in turn, predicted identification with the protagonist and boundary expansion into the story world. The findings suggest that movies about loss with meaningful endings may invite viewers to emotionally process the fundamental fear of losing a loved one.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Media Psychology (JMP) is committed to publishing original, high-quality papers which cover the broad range of media psychological research. This peer-reviewed journal focuses on how human beings select, use, and experience various media as well as how media (use) can affect their cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Submissions must substantially advance the current state-of the art on a theoretical and/or an empirical level. To name just a few typical fields and domains of inquiry, the Journal of Media Psychology considers manuscripts dealing with research on entertainment, computer-mediated communication (including social media), human-computer interaction, e-learning, computer and video games, virtual environments, or advertising. The journal is also open to research from neighboring disciplines as far as this work ties in with psychological concepts of the uses and effects of the media. Submissions of comparative work, e.g., crossmedia, cross-gender, or cross-cultural, are encouraged. Moreover, submissions including alternative analysis procedures such as the Bayesian approach are welcome. Starting in 2015, the pre-registration of research plans will also be possible. To ensure short turn-around cycles for manuscript review and fast publication, the Journal of Media Psychology relies heavily upon electronic communication and information exchange, starting from electronic submission and continuing throughout the entire review and production process.