Psychology of Entertainment

This comprehensive and cutting-edge volume defines entertainment studies and provides a theoretical spine for future research. For scholars/researchers/students in media studies and mass communication, psychology, marketing, etc.

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 totake 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 Entertainment promises 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 ofwell-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 Entertainment will appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students in media studies and mass communication, psychology, marketing, and other areas contributing to the entertainment studies area.

Contents: Preface. Part I: Preparation and Reception Processes. P. Vorderer, F.F. Steen, E. Chan, Motivation. J. Bryant, J. Davies, Selective Exposure Processes. D.R. Anderson, H.L. Kirkorian, Attention and Television. L.J. Shrum, Perception. R.J. Harris, E.T. Cady, T.Q. Tran, Comprehension and Memory. R.H. Wicks, Media Information Processing. Part II: Reaction Processes. P.M. Valkenburg, J. Peter, Fantasy and Imagination. N. Rhodes, J.C. Hamilton, Attribution and Entertainment: It's Not Who Dunnit, It's Why. A.A. Raney, The Psychology of Disposition-Based Theories of Media Enjoyment. D. Zillmann, Empathy: Affective Reactivity to Others' Emotional Experiences. J. Cohen, Audience Identification With Media Characters. W. Wirth, Involvement. D. Zillmann, Dramaturgy for Emotions From Fictional Narration. S. Knobloch-Westerwick, Mood Management: Theory, Evidence, and Advancements. S. Trepte, Social Identity Theory. M. Schmitt, J. Maes, Equity and Justice. C. Klimmt, T. Hartmann, H. Schramm, Parasocial Interactions and Relationships. J. Cantor, Why Horror Doesn't Die: The Enduring and Paradoxical Effects of Frightening Entertainment. M.B. Oliver, J. Kim, M.S. Sanders, Personality. D. Miron, Emotion and Cognition in Entertainment. Part III: Application of Psychological Theories and Models to Entertainment Theory. M. Zuckerman, Sensation Seeking in Entertainment. M. Schreier, (Subjective) Well-Being. B. Scheele, F. DuBois, Catharsis as a Moral Form of Entertainment. P. Ohler, G. Nieding, An Evolutionary Perspective on Entertainment.

Jennings Bryant, Peter Vorderer