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The Winner Doesn't Take It All: Analyzing Audience Responses to an Inspirational Sports Narrative
[journal article]
Abstract Applying a dual-process rationale, this study explored the cognitive and affective mechanisms involved in the processing of hedonic versus eudaimonic film clips and their putatively distinct inspirational effects. The two types of narratives were operationalized in terms of complete and incomplete g... view more
Applying a dual-process rationale, this study explored the cognitive and affective mechanisms involved in the processing of hedonic versus eudaimonic film clips and their putatively distinct inspirational effects. The two types of narratives were operationalized in terms of complete and incomplete goal satisfaction in the film endings. Participants either watched the final boxing match from Rocky, where the protagonist loses the fight, but achieves self-mastery and finds love (eudaimonic narrative) or from Rocky II, where he wins against his opponent (hedonic narrative). A combination of continuous measures of how pleasant participants felt (slider ratings) and psychophysiological measures (heart rate, galvanic skin response [GSR], pulse volume amplitude [PVA]) indicating cognitive load and arousal was used to track the audience responses while watching a compilation of the same intro and the different fight versions. Results revealed that arousal was more strongly associated with participants’ affective scores during the hedonic (winning) version than during the eudaimonic (losing) one. Furthermore, participants experience more positive affect and arousal after watching the protagonist win the match compared to those that watched him lose. Lastly, participants in the eudaimonic condition were more likely to be inspired to exercise afterward. Implications of our results are discussed.... view less
Classification
Impact Research, Recipient Research
Free Keywords
arousal; entertainment; eudaimonic media; hedonic media; inspirational media; psychophysiology
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 202-214
Journal
Media and Communication, 9 (2021) 2
Issue topic
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Inspirational Media between Meaning, Narration, and Manipulation
ISSN
2183-2439
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed