Psychology of Entertainment

by Bryant,Jennings

• ISBN13: 9780805852387
• ISBN10: 0805852387
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-02-24
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

As entertainment becomes a trillion-dollar-a-year industry worldwide, as our modern era increasingly lives up to its label of the "entertainment age," and as economists begin to recognize that entertainment has become the driving force of the new world economy, it is safe to say that scholars are beginning to take entertainment seriously. The scholarly spin on entertainment has been manifested in traditional ways, as well as innovative ones. Representing the current state of theory and research,Psychology of Entertainmentpromises to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date volume on entertainment. It serves to define the new area of study and provides a theoretical spin for future work in the area. Divided into three basic parts, this book: *addresses the fundamental mechanisms and processes involved in orienting to and selecting entertainment fare, as well as receiving and processing it; *explores the mechanisms and processes by which we are entertained by the media messages we select and receive; and *provides an opportunity for the application of well-established as well as emerging psychological and psychobiological theories to be applied to the study of entertainment in ways that seldom have been utilized previously. Psychology of Entertainmentwill appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students in media studies and mass communication, psychology, marketing, and other areas contributing to the entertainment studies area.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
List of Contributors	xv
I. Preparation and Reception Processes
Motivation	3	(16)
Peter Vorderer
Francis F. Steen
Elaine Chan
Selective Exposure Processes	19	(16)
Jennings Bryant
John Davies
Attention and Television	35	(20)
Daniel R. Anderson
Heather L. Kirkorian
Perception	55	(16)
L. J. Shrum
Comprehension and Memory	71	(14)
Richard Jackson Harris
Elizabeth Tait Cady
Tuan Quoc Tran
Media Information Processing	85	(20)
Robert H. Wicks
II. Reaction Processes
Fantasy and Imagination	105	(14)
Patti M. Valkenburg
Jochen Peter
Attribution and Entertainment: It's Not Who Dunnit, it's Why	119	(18)
Nancy Rhodes
James C. Hamilton
The Psychology of Disposition-Based Theories of Media Enjoyment	137	(14)
Arthur A. Raney
Empathy: Affective Reactivity to Others' Emotional Experiences	151	(32)
Dolf Zillmann
Audience Identification with Media Characters	183	(16)
Jonathan Cohen
Involvement	199	(16)
Werner Wirth
Dramaturgy for Emotions from Fictional Narration	215	(24)
Dolf Zillmann
Mood Management: Theory, Evidence, and Advancements	239	(16)
Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick
Social Identity Theory	255	(18)
Sabine Trepte
Equity and Justice	273	(18)
Manfred Schmitt
Jurgen Maes
Parasocial Interactions and Relationships	291	(24)
Christoph Klimmt
Tilo Hartmann
Holger Schramm
Why Horror Doesn't Die: The Enduring and Paradoxical Effects of Frightening Entertainment	315	(14)
Joanne Cantor
Personality	329	(14)
Mary Beth Oliver
Jinhee Kim
Meghan S. Sanders
Emotion and Cognition in Entertainment	343	(24)
Dorina Miron
III. Application of Psychological Theories and Models to Entertainment Theory
Sensation Seeking in Entertainment	367	(22)
Marvin Zuckerman
(Subjective) Well-Being	389	(16)
Margrit Schreier
Catharsis as a Moral Form of Entertainment	405	(18)
Brigitte Scheele
Fletcher DuBois
An Evolutionary Perspective on Entertainment	423	(12)
Peter Ohler
Gerhild Nieding
Author Index	435	(18)
Subject Index	453