The Role of Morality in Emotional Reactions to and Enjoyment of Media Entertainment

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur A. Raney
Keyword(s):  
Moral Disengagement ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Expected Outcome ◽  
Actual Outcome ◽  
Justice Restoration ◽  
Character Liking

This article examines the complex role that morality plays in emotional reactions to media entertainment. Morality no doubt influences and to a certain extent governs our emotional responses to media, with the stories we chose to consume, the characters we love and hate, the rationale behind those feelings, the emotions that we experience on their behalf, and the pleasure and meaning comes as a result. Specifically, as media consumers, we experience emotional reactions to characters (liking), to their plights (anticipatory emotions), and to their ultimate outcomes (enjoyment and appreciation). Each of these emotional reactions are regulated by morality: character liking by moral judgments about the behaviors and motivations of characters, anticipatory emotions by sense of expected justice restoration, and enjoyment by the moral evaluation of the actual outcome portrayed in relation to the expected outcome. These processes and relationships are discussed in light of recent work on moral intuition, moral emotions, and moral disengagement.

scholarly journals Not So Moral Moral Responses to Media Entertainment?

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilo Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Functional Role ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Justice Restoration ◽  
Exhausted Resources

The present contribution comments Art Raney’s article on the role of morality in emotional reactions to media entertainment. It dwells on Raney’s distinction between pleasure-based versus appreciation-based media entertainment. On a normative level, Raney seems to favor appreciation-based media entertainment over pleasure-based entertainment, because he presumes the latter one to result from more automatic, archaic and, overall, less desirable moral activity among users. Recalling and extending Raney’s arguments, the present article discuss the ambivalence of seemingly moral judgments of characters, the potential selfishness of users’ concern for the fate of the protagonist, and potential biases in the appraisals of justice restoration. However, the present article wrestles with Raney’s arguments underlying his critical evaluation of pleasure-based entertainment. While agreeing to most of his arguments about the moral mechanisms underlying pleasure-based entertainment, it departs from his normative position. The present article argues that pleasure-based entertainment may fulfill a psychologically functional role: it may allow people to effectively recreate and to restore exhausted resources.

scholarly journals Atmospherics and the establishment of long-term customer relationships in a retail environment

2000 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-343
Author(s):  
I. Olivier ◽  
M. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Psychology ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Customer Relationships ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Physical Environmental Factors

With the current focus on establishing long-tenn customer relationships, the enhancement of the entire shopping experience and the role of atmosphere and the emotional reactions it elicits, are becoming increasingly important. Determining the factors that contribute to the creation of pleasant or unpleasant shopping experiences can influence future strategic planning. The focus of this study falls on the way that the physical environmental factors of a store, more specifically the environmental odour, affect consumers' emotional responses. This is discussed on the basis of environmental psychology, using certain research findings as well as theoretical models to shed more light on this topic.

Moral Judgments, Moral Virtues, and Moral Norms

Human Affairs ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Popper
Keyword(s):  
Social Trust ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Moral Virtues ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethical Systems ◽  
Ways Of Life

Moral Judgments, Moral Virtues, and Moral NormsThe paper consists of two basic parts. In the first, contemporary approaches to moral judgments and their relations with moral virtues and moral norms are analyzed. The focus is on comparing the role of the emotions and reason, and conscious and unconscious processes in forming and/or justifying moral judgments. The second part examines views on the current broader socio-political situation in Western countries and points to the growing feelings of insecurity among people mainly due to the fact that traditional ways of life have been losing solid ground, settled (social) norms and ethical systems are weakening and at the same time the social trust in various state institutions and bureaucratic structures involved in power is decreasing. In conclusion the author argues for the potential of the ethic of autonomy that would lead to still greater cooperation in globalized ethic, primarily thanks to our moral emotions and moral judgments.

Emotional responses of children and adolescents to parents with multiple sclerosis

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rivka Yahav ◽  
Janine Vosburgh ◽  
Ariel Miller
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Household Tasks ◽  
Active Protection ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

The effect of a chronic illness of one parent on children is determined by a complicated interaction of various emotional components. Our focus was on the children’s and adolescent’s emotional reactions and feelings towards their multiple sclerosis (MS)-affected parents, including: degree of responsibility, obligation and concern, yielding behaviour and active protection, fear and anxiety related to the state of illness, their sense of burden in connection with household tasks and errands, and anger. Fifty-six children, ages 10=18, each having a parent with MS, were examined. The results were compared to a control group of 156 age-matched children with healthy parents. Feelings were examined by means of a questionnaire previously constructed by us. We found that children of parents with MS felt more responsibility and obligation than children of healthy parents. They also exhibited more yielding behaviour, more fear and anxiety related to states of illness, a greater sense of burden and a greater degree of anger. We consider the interaction between the sex of the parent and the sex of the child in connection with these feelings and discuss the implications of the ‘parental child’ role of these children.

Shame or pride?

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 1431-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Eun Kim ◽  
Kim K.P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Moral Decision Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Counterfeit Goods ◽  
Causal Direction ◽  
Self Construal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of individuals’ self-view (interdependent, independent) in the relationship between moral emotions and moral judgments made concerning the purchase of fashion counterfeits. Design/methodology/approach – Based on reviewing the literature on moral decision making, moral emotion and self-construal, we test the hypotheses by two experimental studies. Findings – The results of two studies demonstrated that independents were more likely to judge counterfeits as morally wrong when pride rather than shame was associated with counterfeits or was evoked through an anti-counterfeit campaign. Interdependents were more likely to judge counterfeits as morally wrong when shame rather than pride was evoked through an anti-counterfeit campaign. Research limitations/implications – Results can inform marketing communication campaigns designed to prevent the proliferation of counterfeits in the fashion industry. Originality/value – The contribution of this research is the expansion of prior work on consumers’ purchase of counterfeit goods by the discovery of the causal direction of individuals’ differences in self-view and its impact on moral judgment.

scholarly journals Exploring the effect of Weibo opinion leaders on the dynamics of public opinion in China: A revisit of the two-step flow of communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Su
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Subjective Assessment ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Step Flow ◽  
Sleeper Effect

Using a random sample of posts on Weibo, this study content analyzes the extent to which Weibo opinion leaders’ tweets are associated with the shifts and variations of public opinion—in terms of topic salience, emotional reactions, agent of responsibility, motivation for condemnation, rhetorical techniques, conviction of blame, and emotional intensity—in the case of the Tianjin Explosion. Building upon a burgeoning research agenda examining the role of Chinese Weibo in the context of two-step flow, this study found that opinion leaders generally reinforce Weibo users’ subjective assessment (e.g., attitudes and emotional responses) of the incident. An overwhelming sleeper effect is also observed in that most posts by the opinion leaders did not contribute to peaks until 2–3 days later. All opinion leaders achieved between one and three peaks.

Common Sentiment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bosko Tripkovic
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
The People ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Specific Community

The chapter analyses the metaethical foundations of the argument from common sentiment. This argument holds that moral emotions of the people in a community indicate the solution to moral problems. Drawing on comparative constitutional practice, the chapter contends that the argument from common sentiment consists of two elements: the emotivist element makes moral judgment dependent on moral feelings, and the relativist element ties these feelings to a specific community. The chapter argues that these elements are incompatible and fail to account for the role of reasoning and reflection in moral judgments. The chapter concludes that the argument from common sentiment is inadequate as an exclusive approach to judicial moral judgment.

Reid and Moral Emotions

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Roeser
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Moral Emotions ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Thomas Reid ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Control

The name of Thomas Reid rarely appears in discussions of the history of moral thought. This is a pity, since Reid has a lot of interesting ideas that can contribute to the current discussions in meta-ethics. Reid can be understood as an ethical intuitionist. What makes his account especially interesting is the role affective states play in his intuitionist theory. Reid defends a cognitive theory of moral emotions. According to Reid, there are moral feelings that are the result of a moral judgment made by reason. The judgment and the feeling together constitute what Reid calls sentiments. Reid thinks that affective states (feelings and sentiments) play the role of helping reason to guide and control the egoistic feelings and passions. The affective states are particularly important, in Reid's view, because the motivating force of reason is often defeated by the stronger motivating force of the passions. So without affective states, we would often not be able to do what is morally good or right. In this paper, I will argue that the role of the affective states is still too limited in Reid's approach. He takes affective states to have a merely motivational function, namely, to help reason to control the passions and motivate to action where reason is too weak. Reid thinks that in making moral judgments we do not need to have feelings, feelings are at most a result of a judgment. Instead, I will argue that affective states also play an epistemological role.

The Therapist’s Reaction to a Patient’s Suicide

Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Martin Wurst ◽  
Isabella Kunz ◽  
Gregory Skipper ◽  
Manfred Wolfersdorf ◽  
Karl H. Beine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Analog Scale ◽  
General Hospitals ◽  
Item Questionnaire ◽  
Retrospective Nature ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Background: A substantial proportion of therapists experience the loss of a patient to suicide at some point during their professional life. Aims: To assess (1) the impact of a patient’s suicide on therapists distress and well-being over time, (2) which factors contribute to the reaction, and (3) which subgroup might need special interventions in the aftermath of suicide. Methods: A 63-item questionnaire was sent to all 185 Psychiatric Clinics at General Hospitals in Germany. The emotional reaction of therapists to patient’s suicide was measured immediately, after 2 weeks, and after 6 months. Results: Three out of ten therapists suffer from severe distress after a patients’ suicide. The item “overall distress” immediately after the suicide predicts emotional reactions and changes in behavior. The emotional responses immediately after the suicide explained 43.5% of the variance of total distress in a regression analysis. Limitations: The retrospective nature of the study is its primary limitation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that identifying the severely distressed subgroup could be done using a visual analog scale for overall distress. As a consequence, more specific and intensified help could be provided to these professionals.

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