Mood Management, Self-Transcendence, and Prosociality: Selective Exposure to Meaningful Media Entertainment and Prosocial Behavior

• Other Authors: Zhao, Danyang (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Mass media
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Su_Zhao_fsu_0071E_14729

There has been growing discussion that distinguishes meaningful media entertainment, eudaimonic media experiences, and self-transcendent positive emotions from pleasurable media entertainment, hedonic media experiences, and non-transcendent positively-valenced emotions. The mood management theory and selective exposure perspective explain how individuals tend to select media to consume when they are in a particular mood state in order to achieve a better mood or maintain their existing desirable mood state. These perspectives do not specifically capture the self-transcendent emotional states or meaningful media entertainment. However, they provided imperative theoretical foundation to examine these phenomena. This dissertation project examines and compares the entertainment media selection between meaningful and funny video content when a positive affective state, hedonic joyful mood or elevation is experienced. It also examines these two positive affects experienced after consuming chosen media content, and how they may affect prosociality. Specifically, it explores if individuals in the affective state of elevation will be more likely to choose elevation-inducing videos to view comparing to individuals in the affective state of hedonic joy, in order to maintain their existing self-transcendent good mood. Further, it investigates whether elevation-inducing meaningful video exposure, comparing to joy-inducing funny video exposure, would lead to greater likelihood of helping a stranger despite a controllable cause of the help-seeker’s plight. The results showed that the affective experience of elevation led to continued exposure to the meaningful media after initial exposure to elevation-inducing content and more meaningful media exposure in general (than the mood state of hedonic joy). This congruency in mood state and selective exposure behavior mirrors the good mood maintenance proposition of the mood management theory. Moreover, more meaningful video exposure led to higher levels of elevation, which in turn led to higher likelihood of agreeing to help a stranger in need. As speculated, elevation had a stronger and more stable relationship with prosociality than hedonic joy did. The findings also supported the positive relationship between need for affect and elevation elicited by meaningful media content. The role of content types, entertainment preferences, individual differences in predispositional altruistic personality, and need for affect in the production of selective exposure behavior and helping are also discussed. === A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Summer Semester 2018. === July 10, 2018. === elevation, meaningful media entertainment, mood management, prosociality, selective exposure, self-transcendence === Includes bibliographical references. === Arthur A. Raney, Professor Directing Dissertation; Wen Li, University Representative; Laura M. Arpan, Committee Member; Juliann Cortese, Committee Member.