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Through two studies, this project examines the experience of awe in response to specific referents within a video game: the beauty of nature or the abilities of humanity. After playing an awe-inspiring game, participants in an experiment who experienced nature-based scenes reported experiencing awe directed at nature, while participants who experienced human-development based scenes experienced awe of humanity’s achievements. Results from this experiment and a subsequent survey found that humanity-based awe led to appreciation—a eudaimonic outcome. Appreciation then predicted more positive attitudes toward people represented in the game. Results from two methodologically distinct studies show awe is a multifaceted experience arising from different referents within games, and awe toward humanity can facilitate appreciation and more positive attitudes toward others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through three studies, this paper examines the success of livestreamers, as a function of presentation style (e.g. with or without webcam) triggering parasocial interactions. First, a content analysis confirms that successful livestreamers use voice/webcam features, and those features correlate with increased viewers and followers. Then, an experiment shows that viewers who can hear/see the livestreamer's voice/webcam report more enjoyment of and support for the livestreamer. Finally, another content analysis confirms that the parasocial presentation style (i.e. with a webcam) is indicative of increased viewers and followers, even when considering two-way social interaction (i.e. naming audience members). In sum, although livestreaming allows two-way interaction, success for livestreamers may be driven by appearing rather than being social. The manuscript focuses on Twitch given its prominence in esports and livestreaming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project tests the ability of narrative and gameplay to persuade in a casual health game, through two experimental studies. Study 1 (N = 212) explores how independently manipulated narrative and gameplay factors can persuade people to have healthier attitudes and behavioral intentions; Study 2 (N = 353) also investigates how narrative and gameplay (difficulty) factors might improve attitudes and behavioral intentions toward an in-game brand. Both studies consider the role of flow, an immersive and inherently rewarding psychological state, as potential mediators between game factors and persuasive outcomes. In both studies, results show improvement in both attitudes and behavioral intentions toward health and the brand; however, the cause of those changes is not clear, as the manipulated narrative and gameplay factors do not influence the persuasive outcomes, and the mediating variable flow influences the persuasive outcomes inconsistently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how parasocial phenomena can improve community strength on the livestreaming site Twitch, adding to existing research that has shown viewers who engage in parasocial interactions and/or relationships with Twitch livestreamers experience a variety of positive effects. A survey of Twitch viewers shows that feelings of PSI and PSR are positively associated with a beneficial sense of community. A second, experimental study suggests that livestreamers can engender communal feelings by encouraging parasociality with their audience. These studies suggest that parasocial phenomenon may be key not only to viewer experience but also to the viewer's sense of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychological states of flow and transportation or narrative engagement are conceptually similar. Both are described as immersive, emotional states that lead to enjoyment or other similar outcomes. Despite similarities between flow and narrative engagement, limited research examines their empirical relationship, while also considering their relationship to enjoyment. This project evaluated the viability of measuring flow, narrative engagement, and enjoyment simultaneously, with results suggesting that the concepts may not be statistically distinct, particularly flow and narrative engagement – as they were nearly perfectly correlated in two game-based experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of news sites' explicit online comment moderation policies on spiral of silence (SOS) outcome variables. It advances the methodological understanding of SOS research by comparing the traditional willingness-to-share variable to more direct measures of attitudes. The results of two studies show that a one-sided editorial and comments generally silenced the opposition, particularly when participants were asked to provide their own comment. This finding suggests that open-ended comments may best measure SOS effects. With the inclusion of explicit comment moderation, however, participants were less likely to agree with the editorial as evidenced by their closed-ended attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]