Making sense of entertainment

This contribution explores the relationship of emotion and cognition in entertainment experience. Drawing on the reflective model of aesthetic experience (Cupchik, 1995) and the concept of appreciation (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010), we propose a multi-level view of affective processing that includes simple affect schemata as well as more elaborate forms of sociomoral reasoning that build on this basic layer of emotional meaning. To better understand how affective factors can stimulate or impede cognitive elaboration processes, we review research on motivated cognition that has dealt with the influence of arousal, valence, and personal relevance on cognitive depth. The role of affect in defensive information processing (i.e., the motivated neglect or denial of information) is also considered. Specifically, we discuss how research on motivated cognition can help explain thought-provoking entertainment experiences, and the potential of such experiences to stimulate self-reflection and personal growth

Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of User Responses

Emerging research on video games has suggested that feelings of both enjoyment and meaningfulness can be elicited from gameplay. Studies have shown enjoyment and meaningfulness evaluations to be associated with discrete elements of video games (ratings of gameplay and narrative, respectively), but have relied on closed-end data analysis. The current study analyzed participants’ open-ended reviews of either their “most fun” or “most meaningful” video game experience (N = 575, randomly assigned to either condition). Results demonstrated that “fun” games were explained in terms of gameplay mechanics, and “meaningful” games were explained in terms of connections with players and in-game characters

Értelem és érzelem Patrick Ness Szólít a szörny és Seanan McGuire Mélybe ránt a Lápvilág kisregényeiben

Dolgozatomban két olyan ifjúsági fantasyvel foglalkozom, amelynek középpontjában a fiatalkori trauma áll. Kiindulópontom Patrick Ness Szólít a szörny című kisregénye, amelyben a főszereplő fiú édesanyja közelgő halálát egy szörny kéretlen segítségével dolgozza fel. A fa-monstrum történetek segítségével ábrázolja a fiú pszichés tájképét, és ezáltal rombol és gyógyít. Ez a történetmesélés/fantasy stresszoldó szerepéről szóló példabeszéd egyúttal a felnőttvilágba való beavatásról is szól, mivel a fiú megérti azokat a negatív érzelmeit, amelyek egy komplexebb világképet engednek látni. Seanan McGuire kisregényének elemzése a fenti gondolatmenetet viszi tovább. A Mélybe ránt a Lápvilág traumatizált tini (iker) főszereplői egy olyan másik világban találnak ideiglenes otthonra, amely szintén mentális tájképként olvasható: a Lápvilág a gyerekekben lezajló pszichés folyamatok leképződése, és annak monstruozitása a karakterek valós világban érzékelt szükségleteiből adódó válaszként értelmezhető. McGuire különbséget tesz a két ikerleány helyzetértékelési, és helyzetértelmezési képességeit illetően, ennek különbségét is részben a másként megélt traumatizált gyerekkorhoz – és így eltérő érzelmekhez - köti. The present paper discusses two YA (Young Adult) fantasiest that focus on childhood trauma. My starting point is Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, in which the protagonist, the thirteen-year-old Conor is forced to cope with the looming death of her mother. Conor’s life seems to be further complicated by a menacing monster, who regularly visits the teenage boy at nights, but it turns out that the monster is an inevitable part of the boy’s coping mechanism. The monster brings destruction and healing with the help of stories, which on the one hand may be read as a kind of parable about the stress-managing role of storytelling (or fantasy) and poses significant questions concerning how to interpret stories, on the other. The novella foregrounds the process whereby a child turns from a „novice reader” into an „expert reader”, to use Maryanne Wolf’s terms. This process is necessary for everyone to become skilled at interpreting their own lives and is in close relation with the negative emotions that come from the initiation into a more complex, „adult” world. Analyzing Seanan McGuire’s Down Among the Sticks and Bones continues the discussion. McGuire’s novella features a twin couple, who were brought up in an emotionally barren and oppressive environment, thus their whole childhood may be considered as traumatized. They could not develop a healthy coping mechanism that may allow them to get integrated into society; therefore, they find a temporary home in an alternative world. This world may be read a psychic landscape, a projection of the children’s mental processes, whose monstrosity is a kind of response to the characters’ needs in the real world. McGuire differentiates between the twin daughters’ abilities to interpret their situations and connects the difference in their competences to how they coped with their traumatic childhood and their emotional states, as a consequence. She applies a narrative strategy that aims at placing the reader into an expert reader position without presenting moral of the story didactically. This strategy relies on presenting the twins as fate alternatives and providing an open narrative ending that forces the readers to make their own conclusions

Zašto baš binge-watching? Istaknuti motivi i analiza motivirajućih hedonističkih i eudamonijskih elemenata emocionalnog zadovoljenja u iskustvu binge-watchinga

Binge-watching is a popular form of media consumption, and entertainment is one of the main drivers of this activity. This research aims to examine the prominent reasons for binge-watching by re-examining the established television viewing motives, by deepening the analysis of entertainment motives, and by introducing a new possible motive – the need for narrative understanding. Therefore, the researcher combines the factors of the established television viewing motives, the factors of hedonic and eudaimonic emotional gratification in an entertainment experience and introduces the motive of the ease of following storylines. The results of an online survey with 833 participants over the age of eighteen conducted in Croatia suggest that the motives of relaxation, fun (hedonic), habit, easier following of intricate storylines, escape, and thrill (hedonic) are prominent. Eudaimonic motives are less pronounced than hedonic ones, however, these clusters are positively related, which indicates the complexity of enjoyment in binge-watching entertainment.Binge-watching je popularan oblik medijske konzumacije, a zabava je jedan od izraženih pokretača te aktivnosti. Cilj je istraživanja predočenog u članku istražiti razloge binge-watchinga preispitivanjem etabliranih motiva gledanja televizije, produbljivanjem istraživanja motiva zabave te uvođenjem novoga mogućeg motiva: potrebe za narativnim razumijevanjem. Stoga istraživanje kombinira čimbenike već prije utvrđenih motiva gledanja televizije i čimbenike emocionalnog zadovoljenja hedonističkim i eudamonijskim elementima zabave te uvodi motiv lakšeg praćenja zamršenih linija priče. Rezultati internetskog istraživanja provedenog u Hrvatskoj na 833 sudionika starija od 18 godina pokazuju da su istaknuti motivi binge-watchinga: opuštanje, dobar provod (hedonistički), navika, laganije praćenje zapetljanih linija priče, bijeg i uzbuđenje (hedonistički). Eudamonijski motivi su slabije izraženi od hedonističkih, ali te su skupine motiva u pozitivnoj korelaciji, što upućuje na složenost uživanja u zabavi binge-watchinga

User-Centered Categorization of Mood in Fiction

Readers articulate mood in deeply subjective ways, yet the underlying structure of users’ understanding of the media they consume has important implications for retrieval and access. User articulations might at first seem too idiosyncratic, but organizing them meaningfully has considerable potential to provide a better searching experience for all involved. The current study develops mood categories inductively for fiction organization and retrieval in information systems.We developed and distributed an open-ended survey to 76 fiction readers to understand their preferences with regard to the affective elements in fiction. From the fiction reader responses, the research team identified 161 mood terms and used them for further categorization.Our inductive approach resulted in 30 categories, including angry, cozy, dark, and nostalgic. Results include three overlapping mood families: Emotion, Tone/Narrative, and Atmosphere/Setting, which in turn relate to structures that connect reader-generated data with conceptual frameworks in previous studies.The inherent complexity of “mood” should not dissuade us from carefully investigating users’ preferences in this regard. Adding to the existing efforts of classifying moods conducted by experts, the current study presents mood terms provided by actual end-users when describing different moods in fiction. This study offers a useful roadmap for creating taxonomies for retrieval and description, as well as structures derived from user-provided terms that ultimately have the potential to improve user experience

Értelem és érzelem Patrick Ness Szólít a szörny és Seanan McGuire Mélybe ránt a Lápvilág kisregényeiben

The present paper discusses two Young Adult fantasies about childhood trauma. My starting point isPatrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, in which the protagonist copes with the looming death of his motherwith the unsought help of a monster. The tree-monster reveals the boy’s psychic landscape and bringsdestruction and healing with the help of stories. This parable about the stress-managing role ofstorytelling/fantasy addresses the process of understanding one’s negative emotions to become initiatedinto a more complex, adult world. Analyzing Seanan McGuire’s Down Among the Sticks and Bonescontinues the discussion. The traumatized twin couple of the novella find a temporary home in analternative world that may also be read a psychic landscape, whose monstrosity is a kind of response tothe characters’ needs in the real world. McGuire suggests that the twin daughters’ diverse abilities tointerpret their situations come from the difference in their emotional states, which is directly linked tohow they coped with their traumatic childhood.Dolgozatomban két olyan ifjúsági fantasyvel foglalkozom, amelynek középpontjában a fiatalkori trauma áll. Kiindulópontom Patrick Ness Szólít a szörny című kisregénye, amelyben a főszereplő fiú édesanyja közelgő halálát egy szörny kéretlen segítségével dolgozza fel. A fa-monstrum történetek segítségével ábrázolja a fiú pszichés tájképét, és ezáltal rombol és gyógyít. Ez a történetmesélés/fantasy stresszoldó szerepéről szóló példabeszéd egyúttal a felnőttvilágba való beavatásról is szól, mivel a fiú megérti azokat a negatív érzelmeit, amelyek egy komplexebb világképet engednek látni. Seanan McGuire kisregényének elemzése a fenti gondolatmenetet viszi tovább. A Mélybe ránt a Lápvilág traumatizált tini (iker) főszereplői egy olyan másik világban találnak ideiglenes otthonra, amely szintén mentális tájképként olvasható: a Lápvilág a gyerekekben lezajló pszichés folyamatok leképződése, és annak monstruozitása a karakterek valós világban érzékelt szükségleteiből adódó válaszként értelmezhető. McGuire különbséget tesz a két ikerleány helyzetértékelési, és helyzetértelmezési képességeit illetően, ennek különbségét is részben a másként megélt traumatizált gyerekkorhoz – és így eltérő érzelmekhez – köti

Reflecting and Shaping the Self through Avatars: The Relationship between Avatars, Identity, and Personal Needs

Individuals frequently engage with virtual environments through the use of characters that represent the self, known as avatars. This dissertation focuses on two primary research questions: (1) how do avatars reflect identity and, (2) how does engaging with an avatar shape the self, in terms of personal needs and self-perceptions? We examine the bidirectional relationship between avatars and their users across four studies. Study 1 examines whether customized avatars can accurately communicate the personalities of their creators to others. Expanding on the theme of reflecting identity, Study 2 explores whether avatar preferences are related to individuals personal psychological needs, specifically the needs for warmth and competence. The results of Studies 1 and 2 indicate that avatars can accurately reflect identity in terms of both personality and psychological needs. However, individuals can also be motivated to use avatars in a way that deviates from ones actual identity, such as avatars that reflect ones ideal self. Study 3 examined whether creating an avatar provides individuals with the opportunity to self-enhance in response to psychological threat. Specifically, we investigated whether there is a tendency to create more idealized avatars following psychological threat and whether this can help mitigate the negative effects of threat on mood and self-concept. The results did not support these ideas, however, with avatar creation seeming to exacerbate rather than improve the negative outcomes of experiencing a psychological threat. That said, it is possible that actively controlling an avatar is an important prerequisite for avatars to have a positive influence on self-perceptions. In Study 4, participants were asked to create either an avatar that reflected their actual self or their ideal self; they were subsequently assigned to either watch or control this avatar. Controlling an avatar, regardless of type, was related to improvements in self-concept (e.g., self-liking), but did not any reduction in discrepancy between the actual self and ideal self. We discuss the results of these studies with a focus on how they might inform future work and their possible application in the real-world, including interactive social interventions