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Abstract. In recent years, entertainment scholars have investigated the extent to which negative emotions such as grief, distress, and loneliness are experienced by viewers following the departure of a favorite character or the cancellation or completion of a television series – also referred to as parasocial breakup (PSB). An online questionnaire ( N = 814) was administered to understand predictors of PSB following the end of a series as they relate to character involvement and holistic enjoyment and appreciation experiences. Findings revealed that a parasocial relationship (PSR) with a favorite character and liking of and identification with the character positively enhanced enjoyment of the series. PSR and identification also facilitated appreciation of the series. Moreover, while PSR and appreciation increased PSB, character liking and enjoyment of the series decreased it. Theoretical implications for the contrasting roles of hedonic and eudaimonic media experiences in predicting PSB are discussed.

Based on social comparison theory, this study investigates how awareness of one’s morality and exposure to a character in a narrative affect emotions associated with four types of social comparisons—upward assimilative, downward contrastive, upward contrastive, and downward assimilative. A 2 (Morality Salience: virtue, vice) X 2 (Character: moral, immoral) experiment (N = 106) revealed that those whose vices were made salient elicited stronger: (1) contempt (a downward contrastive emotion) toward an immoral character than a moral character, and (2) envy (an upward contrastive emotion) toward a moral character than an immoral character. Whereas envy decreased positive affect, contempt increased it. Implications for assimilative and contrastive social comparisons with media characters that lead to distinct affective outcomes are discussed.

Two experiments examined whether one’s moral self-perception affects the selection of content (Study 1) and whether exposure to different character types results in any recovery benefits (Study 2)....

In light of literature documenting differences in viewers’ entertainment preferences, this study (N = 168) examined how motivations for film consumption based on pleasure (hedonism) and meaning (eudaimonia) are associated with moral disengagement and enjoyment of content featuring a morally ambiguous character. Findings indicate that whereas hedonic motivation positively influenced moral disengagement, eudaimonic motivation had the reverse effect. Furthermore, eudaimonic motivation had a direct positive influence on enjoyment, and the relationship between hedonic motivation and enjoyment was mediated by moral disengagement. Implications for the role of morality as it relates to individual preferences for media consumption and enjoyment are discussed.

Objectives Older adults underutilize mental health services suggesting that significant barriers are operating. This study presents reliability and validity data for a revised version of the self-report Barriers to Mental Health Services Scale (BMHSS) designed to quantify 10 barriers to mental health service use, so that barriers can be examined collectively. Methods The Barriers to Mental Health Services Scale Revised (BMHSS-R) was revised to improve its reliability and validity, including adding items, eliminating poor items, and balancing the number of items across subscales. A sample of 100 older adults ( M age=72.1 years, SD =17.8 years) completed the BMHSS-R, the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale, and the Willingness to Seek Help Questionnaire. Results Internal consistency for the 10 subscales of the BMHSS-R ranged between 0.63 and 0.87, with 8 of the 10 values greater than 0.70. Correlational analyses indicated that many of the subscales overlap considerably but are still distinct. Convergent validity of the BMHSS-R subscales of help-seeking and stigma was partially supported, although correlations were modest. Conclusion Revisions to the BMHSS resulted in improved reliability estimates for use as a measure of perceived barriers to mental health services. We recommend when using the BMHSS-R to combine results with other information (e.g., service utilization data) to characterize a profile of barriers. We discuss directions for future research and further refinement of the BMHSS-R.

Responses to morally ambiguous characters vary greatly. The same character may be loved by some individuals and hated by others. The present study (N = 313) empirically tested how two individual difference factors, ambiguity tolerance (AT) and need for cognition (NFC), affected responses to purely good, purely bad, and morally ambiguous character types. Findings reveal that both AT and NFC affected enjoyment of content featuring different character types. Specifically, AT predicted both affective and cognitive enjoyment of good and ambiguous characters, and NFC predicted cognitive enjoyment of these characters.

Using social comparison theory as a framework, 2 experiments examined the effects of a person's self-perception on responses to characters who display varying levels of morality. Study 1 found that individuals whose vices were made salient felt more positive affect and enjoyment after reading a narrative featuring a morally ambiguous character (MAC) than one featuring a bad character. Study 2 found that individuals whose virtues were made salient felt more positive affect and enjoyment after reading a narrative featuring a good character than one featuring a MAC. Findings thus indicate that morality salience is an important factor determining responses to different character types. Avenues for future research and theoretical implications of the dual role of MACs are discussed.

Mechanisms of moral disengagement in violent video game play have recently received considerable attention among communication scholars. To date, however, no study has analyzed the prevalence of moral disengagement factors in violent video games. To fill this research gap, the present approach includes both a systematic literature review and a content analysis of moral disengagement cues embedded in the narratives and actual game play of 17 top-ranked first-person shooters (PC). Findings suggest that moral disengagement factors are frequently embedded in first-person shooters, but their prevalence varies considerably. Most violent video games include justifications of the portrayed violence, a distorted portrayal of consequences, and dehumanization of opponents. Implications of the findings for research on violent games are discussed. © 2014 © 2014 National Communication Association.

Many characters in entertainment content behave in morally questionable ways at least some of the time. However, the negative effects of those behaviors on individuals’ judgments of the character may be diminished in some instances. This study examined the effects of character motivation and outcome in a written narrative on character perceptions and moral disengagement. The findings of a 2 (motivation: altruistic, selfish) × 2 (outcome: positive, negative) experiment (N = 123) revealed that both motivation and outcome affect perceptions of the character's positive and negative attributes, character liking, and moral disengagement. Specifically, altruistic motivations and positive outcomes led to more favorable perceptions of a character's attributes, greater character liking, and more justification of the character's actions. Furthermore, moral disengagement mediated the effects of motivation and outcome on perceptions of characters' positive and negative attributes, and in turn positive attributes media...

Enjoyment of entertainment media has often been conceptualised as a function of viewers' dispositions towards characters and the gratification sought from witnessing the justification of character actions. Motivated by disposition theory and third-person effect's social distance corollary, this study examines how character similarity and identification predict the degree to which viewers morally disengage, or accept antisocial behaviours of characters as morally acceptable. Findings suggest that perceived similarity between the viewer and character mediates the relationship between identification and moral disengagement, which in turn leads to greater affective enjoyment of a narrative. Implications for the nature of the moral disengagement process and its effects are discussed.

According to affective disposition theory, individuals continually monitor and judge characters' actions and form attitudes about characters based on these judgements. However, much entertainment content features characters that do immoral things. It has been proposed that individuals are able to like these characters despite their immoral behaviours through the process of moral disengagement. This study examined how the propensity to morally disengage and the fictionality of a narrative affected individuals' acceptance of immoral behaviours and their overall enjoyment of a narrative. Findings indicate that character liking mediates the relationship between moral disengagement and enjoyment. In addition, the propensity to morally disengage predicts actual moral disengagement, but moral disengagement is unaffected by the realness or fictionality of the narrative. Implications of the findings for entertainment research are discussed.