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In both narrative theory and evolutionary psychology, equitable-retribution—or the idea that punishments for committing a moral transgression should be equivalent to the transgression itself—is a centerpiece of discussion. This article reports results from a blocked within-subjects experiment that examined speed of cognitive processing and subjective rating of three types of narrative retribution: equitable-retribution; under-retribution, where punishment is absent for a transgression; and over-retribution, where punishment exceeds the severity of the transgression. Results suggest that narrative endings depicting equitable-retribution are processed more quickly and liked more than endings with under-retribution and over-retribution. In addition, liking seems to correspond with enjoyment for equitable-retribution and over-retribution; for under-retribution, liking seems to correspond with appreciation. Discussion focuses on implications for theory and extending the current experimental paradigm.

Abstract. The current study adopts a broad-based model of media and audience values as well as recent understandings of enjoyment versus appreciation to predict that aggregate audience appraisals should be related to film budget, gross, and measures of viewership differently depending on the type of appraisal elicited. Data suggest both enjoyment and appreciation are positively related to measures of aggregate selective exposure when controlling for film budget. This finding challenges a view that appreciation is negatively related to success. Discussion centers on implications for understanding potential functional aspects of audience appraisals and suggests future research on audience morality and media production.

Abstract. The model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME) predicts that media content can increase the accessibility of preconscious moral intuitions, which shape subsequent moral decision making. To date, attempts to demonstrate evidence of this intuitive, preconscious process with self-report measures have met with little success. The current paper presents results from a study designed to test the MIME’s predictions, measuring the accessibility of moral intuitions with a moral foundations–affect misattribution procedure (MF-AMP) argued in the current paper to be more capable of detecting the aforementioned effect. An experiment manipulated exposure to media content that focused on care and fairness to test the proposition that media content can increase the accessibility of these moral intuitions. The findings offer preliminary evidence supporting the MIME’s proposition that media content featuring behaviors relevant to specific moral intuitions can increase (temporarily at least) the accessibility of those specific moral intuitions in the audiences.

We count words in film subtitle files in an attempt to reveal morally relevant patterns of linguistic content. We argue that function words (e.g., pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions) should be positively associated with thought-provoking narrative forms. To test this hypothesis, we associate function words to aggregate measures of film viewership and appraisals. Results suggest that function words are negatively associated with measures of viewership but positively associated with appraisals. As such, our finding is consistent with the idea that function words are more likely to occur in narrative forms that audiences value more than they actually consume. We relate this finding to past research, which has shown the same pattern for hedonic versus meaningful entertainment gratifications. Discussion centers on implications for recent theorizing in this area.

This article seeks to further our understanding of the effects of morality in the media on individual creativity. We present an experiment testing whether morally ambiguous (versus clear) narrative endings can enhance or diminish divergent thinking in a subsequent task. Recently proposed understandings of mass-media entertainment seem to imply moral ambiguity should diminish performance, whereas research on the ‘dark side of creativity’ seems to imply it should enhance performance for highly creative individuals. We elaborate on both views and show results indicating morally ambiguous stories actually decrease creativity (defined in terms of fluency in divergent thinking), at least in the short term, for individuals high on trait creativity. Discussion centres on the multidimensional relationships between media and creativity.

Given the wide interest in celebrity endorsements in advertising, it is surprising that there are no quantitative cross-cultural studies on their effectiveness across target audiences. Previous content-analytic research makes assumptions about effectiveness, but has not examined these assumptions. Our article fills this gap by comparing American versus Korean student samples’ response to celebrity-endorsed ads. We find these cultures diverge in purchase intentions after viewing celebrity-endorsed ads. We also find the emphasis of intuitive moral domains drives purchase intentions. Our discussion focuses on marketing implications as well as outlining future directions for this surprisingly underexplored research area.

In disciplines such as moral psychology and media theory, investigations of moral clarity versus ambiguity in narratives are increasingly important. Untested mechanisms have been proposed for how moral clarity and ambiguity might affect audiences. Based on literature regarding joint action and coordinated experiences, we reason that morally clear narratives elicit coordinated responses across audience members, which should increase within-group cooperation. By contrast, we reason that morally ambiguous narratives elicit divergent, uncoordinated responses across audience members, and this experience decreases cooperation. We conducted three independent studies (one using short text narratives, one using feature-length films, and one using morally and emotionally neutral stimuli). Results indicate that moral clarity is indeed associated with subsequently higher levels of group cooperation than moral ambiguity, and the effect cannot be attributed to changes in affect or moral priming.

Previous research suggests that media featuring exemplars of specific altruistic motivations can make those motivations more accessible in viewers’ minds. The present study extends this research to also examine egoistic motivations. We (a) developed a coding scheme to examine how frequently exemplars of altruistic and egoistic motivations appear in media content, (b) developed an intuitive motivation-affect misattribution procedure to measure the accessibility of altruistic and egoistic motivations, and (c) examined whether exposure to media content portraying specific motivations makes those motivations more accessible in audiences. The findings are discussed in terms of the model of intuitive morality and exemplars.

In two experiments, we apply theories and methods from moral psychology to understand consumers' moral judgments of corporations and the unconscious processes that guide them. Study 1 shows cola-brand preference influences self-reported judgments of corporate misconduct, such that judgments are less severe for ingroup- (vs. outgroup-) brand corporations. Study 2 replicates Study 1 as well as uses implicit measures to provide evidence for the morality-shifting hypothesis (i.e., the notion that consumers intuitively reframe the foundations underlying moral judgments as a function of brand identification). Discussion centers on implications for understanding consumer's moral judgments as well as for promotion management.

Moral foundations theory (MFT) is a psychological framework describing innate and modular moral intuitions. The current study integrates MFT with a motivational conception of morality to link it with regulatory focus theory. By combining these frameworks, we predict that a prevention-focused (vs. promotion-focused) advertising message will prime emphasis of moral domains for in-group loyalty, respect for authority, and moral purity among college students. The framework also suggests that emphasis of these three domains will be positively associated with favorable appraisals of prevention-focused messages. Results support the notion that prevention-focused (vs. promotion-focused) messages prime the three domains but contradict the expectation that these domains are positively associated with favorable appraisals of prevention-focused messages. Observations show that they are, rather, positively associated with favorable appraisals of the promotion-focused message. Discussion centers on interpreting these c...

Several researchers have demonstrated that the virtual behaviors committed in a video game can elicit feelings of guilt. Researchers have proposed that such guilt could have prosocial consequences. However, this proposition has not been supported with empirical evidence. The current study examined this issue in a 2×2 (video game play vs. real world recollection×guilt vs. control) experiment. Participants were first randomly assigned to either play a video game or complete a memory recall task. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either a guilt-inducing condition (game play as a terrorist/recall of acts that induce guilt) or a control condition (game play as a UN soldier/recall of acts that do not induce guilt). Results of the study indicate several important findings. First, the current results replicate previous research indicating that immoral virtual behaviors are capable of eliciting guilt. Second, and more importantly, the guilt elicited by game play led to intuition-specific increases in the salience of violated moral foundations. These findings indicate that committing "immoral" virtual behaviors in a video game can lead to increased moral sensitivity of the player. The potential prosocial benefits of these findings are discussed.

Following the death of Osama bin Laden in the late hours of May 1, 2011, many print newspapers throughout the United States and the world ran front-page coverage of his death the following day. Although public support for bin Laden's death was largely consistent, newspaper headlines across the country varied in their presentation of the story, from “Got the Bastard!” to a more stoic “bin Laden dead.” Content analysis derived from the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME) was applied to explain variance in headlines as a function of the dominant political philosophy found in different areas of the United States—philosophies rooted in moral salience structures. The MIME suggests a reciprocal relationship between basic motivations underlying moral judgment for distinct audiences and media content produced for those audiences. Consistent with predictions, findings suggest that newspapers in conservative-leaning regions presented the story as a patriotic “killing” (an emphasis on authority and loyal...

The model of intuitive morality and exemplars is an organizational framework that was created to incorporate theories of basic human motivations with both micro- and macrolevel media research. Thus far, literature has integrated a framework of basic moral intuitions (here labeled altruistic motivations) with the model but has yet to integrate a framework of basic egoistic motivations. The current study integrates frameworks for both altruistic and egoistic motivations with the model in order to examine depictions of motivational incongruities (e.g., moral dilemmas) in television content for young audiences. Findings suggest that the frequency of depicted motivational incongruities increases as audience target-age increases. In addition, findings show that most motivational incongruities involve both egoistic motives versus altruistic ones, rather than just egoistic or altruistic motives alone. Discussion centers on implications for research on media and morality as well as entertainment theory.

This article presents a dual-process model of media entertainment representing 2 psychological appraisal processes, and examines how these processes evoke appreciation or enjoyment as a function of the presence/absence of cognitive conflict. The first process (which characterizes experiences of appreciation) is deliberative and slow, and results from cognitive conflict. The second process (which characterizes experiences of enjoyment) is automatic and fast, and occurs when cognitive conflict is inconsequential. Both appraisal processes result from the same underlying framework of intuitive preferences. 2 studies vary narrative conflict among sets of intuitive moral domains to test dual-process predictions regarding slow/fast response times and the association of the presence/absence of conflict with self-reported experiences of appreciation/enjoyment. Discussion examines theoretical implications for entertainment research.

R. Tamborini (2011, 2012) recently proposed the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME), which combines theoretical developments in moral psychology with media theory to predict the influence of media exposure on morality. To test predictions from this model, a quasi-experimental study conducted over 8weeks exposed selected participants to an online soap opera. Participants' moral intuitions were measured pre-exposure and postexposure. Consistent with predictions, results showed that repeated exposure to morally relevant media content is capable of influencing the salience of moral intuitions. The findings are consistent with the model's description of underlying mechanisms explicating the manner in which entertainment can influence moral judgments, and demonstrate the value of understanding the relationship between exposure to entertainment and moral judgment processes. © 2014 International Communication Association.

The trait tendency to express affectionate messages is positively related to a range of physical health and well-being indicators. Thus far, the literature on affectionate communication has not examined this trait from a neurological perspective linked to such indicators. Using an approach-avoid framework of temperament, this study tests the notion that high-affection communicators have greater relative electrical activity in the left anterior cortex versus the right anterior cortex, as reflected in baseline electroencephalograph recordings. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that high-affection communicators have greater relative left activity than less affectionate communicators. Discussion centers on what conclusions can be drawn, and how research might be informed by linking trait affection to fundamental temperament reflected in anterior brain asymmetry.

In this study, we examined the relationship between trait-like communication apprehension (CA) and resting alpha range asymmetry in the anterior cortex (AC). Although theory and research in cognitive neuroscience suggest that asymmetry in the AC constitutes a relatively stable, inborn, substrate of emotion, some studies indicate that asymmetry can be increased by experimentally induced transitory anxiety. Transitory anxiety produced by interaction with strangers covaries with trait-like CA, raising questions regarding whether asymmetrical electrical activity in the AC during data collection represents resting levels as assumed in the literature or transitory reactions to dyadic interaction with the experimenter. Because the question if unanswered poses issues for theory and approaches to remediation, we computed correlations among alpha range asymmetry in the AC gathered by electroencephalograph (EEG) while participants were at rest, transitory anxiety scores referring to the participants’ interactions wi...

Disposition theory (DT) has been a prevalent and useful theory for examining narrative enjoyment. This study uses logic from DT to predict film popularity indicated by box office gross. A content analysis was conducted on the plot summaries of popular films to determine the extent to which dispositional considerations were upheld. Results indicate that adherence to dispositional considerations is prevalent, but not a significant predictor of film popularity when controlling for other important variables such as budget. Results indicate a need for scholars to incorporate greater understanding of the predictive power of theoretical models in real-world applications.

Zillmann's moral sanction theory defines morality subcultures for entertainment as groups of media viewers who evaluate character actions with shared value systems. However, the theory provides no a priori means to identify these shared value systems. The model of intuitive morality and exemplars incorporates a theoretical framework for identifying and testing the factors from which these shared value systems emerge. This study applies the model's framework, based on 5 "moral domains" from moral foundations theory, to test the influence of shared value systems on character perceptions and narrative appeal. A within-subject experiment varied violation of these five domains (care, fairness, ingroup loyalty, authority, and purity) and narrative resolutions (positive or negative outcomes) in 10 short narrative scenarios. The 5 domains predicted character perceptions and narrative appeal. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of these domains for understanding the reciprocal relationship between audience values and media response. © 2013 Copyright Mass Communication & Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

This study attempted to (a) extend traditional mood management theory research by investigating the influence of the intrinsic needs for competence and autonomy on selective exposure to video games and (b) test the influence of satisfying these needs on resultant mood repair. An experiment varied satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs using false feedback. Subjects then selected media that varied in level of user demand. Measures of need satisfaction were taken before and after media selection. Results demonstrated that (a) thwarted intrinsic needs significantly predict the choice of video games with different levels of user demand and (b) the satisfaction of these needs predicts enjoyment. Findings indicate that mood management can result from mood repair through need satisfaction. © 2012 International Communication Association.

Most early research on entertainment defines media enjoyment in functional terms as the satisfaction of hedonic needs. Two studies demonstrate the value of including nonhedonic and hedonic need satisfaction in defining enjoyment. Both studies find support for a need-satisfaction model showing that hedonic (arousal and affect) and nonhedonic (competence and autonomy) need satisfaction account for unique variance in enjoyment experienced during video game play. Study 2 extends the findings of Study 1 to account for noninteractive media entertainment enjoyment. Results show hedonic and nonhedonic need satisfaction to be distinct but complementary components of media enjoyment. Discussion focuses on the advantage of a needs-based approach for understanding positive valuations of media and offers a new perspective on the enjoyment-appreciation distinction. © 2011 International Communication Association.

Understanding what drives narrative appeal is a major focus of entertainment research. Disposition theory proposes that appeal is a function of the dispositions viewers hold towards characters, which are in turn driven by viewer perceptions of character morality and outcomes experienced by characters. However, the manner in which dispositions change overtime has not been extensively researched. In addition, disposition research has overlooked characters that do not provoke consistently strong dispositions in viewers. The current study tracks disposition formation across eight weeks of a serial drama. Results indicate that as predicted, character morality and liking are strongly related, and that depending on the morality of the character, these dispositions can shift overtime in a predictable fashion. Characters who do not engender strong dispositions in viewers do play a role in overall enjoyment, however may be less critical in dispositional processes than clear–cut heroes and villains. Therefore, to understand the role these characters play we may need to look beyond dispositional concerns.