7 Media Entertainment as a Result of Recreation and Psychological Growth

Media entertainment refers to users' enjoyment of media-induced sensations. This chapter argues that users feel entertained to the extent that media supports their adaptive tendencies to recreate and grow psychologicallY. Within the boundaries of their physiological regulation, users are believed to engage actively in cognitive, affective, and behavioral challenges imposed by media, in order to grow psychologically. However, a lack of physiological resources may limit users' engagement in challenges and consequently strengthen their enjoyment of more recreational and supportive media content. Theorizing Media Entertainment Media entertainment has been characterized traditionally as an enjoyable experience for the user (Verderer, Klimmt, & Ritterfeld, 2004; Zillmann, 2003). Such a perspective views entertainment as a hedonistic user experience, typically triggered by cheerful comedy shows, light-hearted romantic stories, stimulating action movies, or relaxing media offerings (Bosshart & Macconi, 1998). In contrast, alternate approaches suggest that users may also feel entertained by media offerings evoking less hedonistic, but more serious and perhaps even sad experiences (Oliver, 2009; Tan, 2008). The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies, First Edition. General Editor Angharad N. Valdivia. Volume V: Media Effects/Media Psychology. Edited by Erica Scharrer. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT, RECREATION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL GROWTH 171 This notion corresponds to the observation that media users may actively seek media content that evokes sad feelings, such as "tearjerker" movies, or horror or action movie content which induces aversive states such as fear or suspense (Andrade & Cohen, 2007; Mundorf & Mundorf, 2003; Oliver & Bartsch, 2010). Users may also enjoy these typically aversive states in the safe context of media exposure. As such, media entertainment does not necessarily comprise only light-hearted enjoyment. Rather, users may feel entertained provided that media content stimulates any state of enjoyment. For example, users may enjoy a distressing action movie as they reappraise positively aversive states triggered by the movie (Andrade & Cohen, 2002; Oliver & Bartsch, 2010). In such a case, both positive and negative affects (or enjoyment obtained from aversive states) underlie users' feelings of being entertained. Typically; in order to feel entertained, users' pleasure responses must outweigh negative sensations experienced during exposure. 1 A number of examples exist in which negative sensations prevail, however, and as a consequence users fail to feel entertained. For example, users may feel bored by media coni:ent (Bosshart & Macconi, '1998). Alternatively, users may fail to enjoy as a consequence of feeling cognitively and affectively overwhelmed, deeply threatened or annoyed by media content (Zillmann, 1988). Taken together, this suggests that "users feel entertained over a certain episode [ ... ], if they enjoy the ongoing chain of their own primary affective responses" (Verderer & Hartmann, 2009, p. 545), triggered by media content. Media entertainment research suggests a number of different mechanisms as to why users feel entertained and enjoy their primary responses to media content (for reviews see Bosshart & Macconi, 1998; Bryant & Miron, 2002; Klimmt & Verderer, 2009; Oliver, 2009; Verderer, 2003; Verderer & Hartmann, 2009; Zillmann & Bryant, 1986). The aim of this chapter is not to review each of these mechanisms separately, but to discuss media entertainment from an integrated theoretical perspective derived from pleasure research. Research on pleasure in sexual intercourse (Boul, Hallam-Jones, & Wylie, 2009), food intake (Rozin, 1999), economical behavior (Kahneman, Wakker, & Sarin, 1997), decision-making (Hsee & Hastie, 2006), art appreciation (Silvia, 2005), music (Huron, 2005), literature (Nell, 1988), and audiovisual media exposure (Miron, 2006), suggests that pleasure responses are evoked typically by biological and psychological mechanisms that are responsible for promoting adaptive functioning throughout evolution (e.g., Cabanac, Pouliot, & Everett, 1997; Miron, 2006; Rozin, 1999; White, 1959). According to Damasio (1999, p. 78), "pleasure seduce[d] us into good behavior." Likewise, Kahneman et al. (1997, p. 379) argue that "pleasure is evidently a 'go' signal, which guides the organism to continue important activities such as foreplay or consuming sweet, energy-rich food." An abundance of studies have similarly documented the healthpromoting effects of pleasure (Esch & Stefano, 2004; Zillmann, 2000). Pleasure responses thus appear tied to basic and often adaptive human tendencies. In line with this, I suggest that people enjoy media content based upon pleasure responses which are tied to two adaptive tendencies; to recreate and to grow psychologically through engagement in challenges.