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Copyright of CISTI (Iberian Conference on Information Systems & Technologies / Conferência Ibérica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informação) Proceedings is the property of Conferencia Iberica de Sistemas Tecnologia de Informacao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study tested the validity of a theoretical model on engaging real persons mediated through screens, i.e. mediated persons, initially developed to explain mechanisms in engaging fictional characters: Perceiving and Experiencing Fictional Characters (the PEFiC-model ***). However, mediated persons might be conceptualized as fictional characters, even if represented as 'real' or reporting on 'real' issues (e.g., a newscaster). In the present study (N=401), stimuli were the world leaders Bush, Blair, Bin Laden, and Hussein at the eve of Gulf War II. The results demonstrated an even better fit of the PEFiC-model to the data of the 'real' persons. Furthermore, comparable results were found as for the movie characters. Again, the trade-off between involvement and distance explained the appreciation of a mediated person better than either involvement or distance alone. Moreover, the world leaders were perceived equally realistic and less relevant than Hollywood's protagonists. Finally, the results before and after Gulf War II were compared. The discussion will focus on theoretical and methodological implications for perceived realism of mediated people. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]