How Moral Expectancy Violations Influence Audiences’ Affective Dispositions Toward Characters

2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022110399
Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Matthews ◽  
James Alex Bonus
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Moral Behavior ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Expectancy Violations ◽  
Moral Skepticism ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Behavioral Expectations ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory

Affective disposition theory (ADT) explains that the moral judgments of character behavior inform dispositions toward characters. These dispositions bias moral judgments of characters’ subsequent behaviors and establish behavioral expectations. We used expectancy violations theory to help specify people’s dispositions toward characters. In study 1, we modified the footbridge dilemma to develop experimental stimuli and predictions. Studies 2 and 3 observed the disposition formation process longitudinally and validated our stimulus: a custom-built visual novel. Study 4 tested our predictions. Studies 2 through 4 used pre-registered hypotheses, sampling, and data analyses. Results demonstrated that the current disposition (positive vs. negative) changes how a novel (im)moral behavior affects that disposition. Schema-violating behaviors provoked larger mean differences in participants’ dispositions toward protagonists compared to antagonists. Specifically, people were hyper-scrutinous of moral paragons and entrenched despised characters in moral skepticism. Additionally, we observed differences in dispositions toward characters who did not act when they could (inaction).

Detecting the Boundaries of Disposition Bias on Moral Judgments of Media Characters’ Behaviors using Social Judgment Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-441
Author(s):  
Nicholas L Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Impression Formation ◽  
Social Judgment ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Social Judgment Theory ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Ordered Alternatives ◽  
Media Characters ◽  
Morally Ambiguous Characters ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory

Abstract eople continuously morally judge the behaviors of media characters. This informs people’s dispositions toward characters. Their dispositions bias their subsequent moral judgments of behavior. Affective disposition theory (ADT) contends that limits to disposition bias exist, but empirical evidence is absent. Three experiments tested the utility of using the ordered alternatives procedure (OAP) from social judgment theory to observe character disposition bias boundaries. Studies 1 and 2 explored and refined methods for detecting the bounds of disposition biases on moral judgments. Study 3 observed the boundaries using preregistered hypotheses, analyses, and sampling. Findings reveal the pragmatic nature of disposition bias, indicating a dependency on the magnitude of moral violation. This outcome interacted with role (average person vs. hero-based roles), schema (pure heroes vs. morally ambiguous characters), and exemplification (prototypes vs. exemplars). Findings corroborate ADT, Raney’s extension of ADT, and Sanders’ character impression formation model, and demonstrate the OAP’s utility for broader communication research.

News as Entertainment Format

2021 ◽  
pp. 515-536
Author(s):  
Melissa J. Robinson ◽  
Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick
Keyword(s):  
Mass Communication ◽  
Affective Responses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory ◽  
News Event

The informative value of news has often been the focus of mass communication research, but individuals do tune into the news for entertainment purposes. In addition, news organizations frequently add entertainment elements into news stories to increase audience interest. Considering both of these factors, theorizing about the entertainment processes (e.g., appreciation, enjoyment, and suspense) that occur during news consumption is necessary to understand audience behavior. This chapter investigates factors that influence entertainment processes during news consumption. Two entertainment theories in particular (affective disposition theory and the affective news extended model) are reviewed to understand how affective responses influence enjoyment of news. It organizes existing research on affective responses and entertainment processes into two categories focusing on news event characteristics (i.e., elements that journalists cannot change) and message design principles that journalists create or edit. Areas for future research are provided.

The Impact of Moral Expectancy Violations on Audiences’ Parasocial Relationships With Movie Heroes and Villains

2019 ◽  
pp. 009365021988651 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Alex Bonus ◽  
Nicholas L. Matthews ◽  
Tim Wulf
Keyword(s):  
Response Surface ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Expectancy Violations ◽  
Parasocial Relationships ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Immoral Behavior ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

Integrating the predictions of disposition theory and expectancy violations theory, a longitudinal survey assessed adults’ parasocial relationships with characters in a popular movie franchise before and after the release of the latest film installment of that franchise. Consistent with disposition theory, characters’ immoral behavior in the film weakened participants’ parasocial relationships with those characters. However, analyses conducted using a novel statistical technique (i.e., response surface analysis) revealed that further shifts in the strength of these relationships occurred when characters subverted participants’ expectations regarding their typical moral behavior. Specifically, participants’ relationship with the film’s primary villain strengthened when he was perceived as behaving more morally than expected, whereas their relationship with the film’s primary hero weakened when he was perceived as behaving either more or less morally than expected. These findings highlight the need for more nuanced examinations of disposition formation processes.

This Isn’t the Free Will Worth Looking For

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Monroe ◽  
Garrett L. Brady ◽  
Bertram F. Malle
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Behavior ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Perceived Choice ◽  
The Relationship

According to previous research, threatening people’s belief in free will may undermine moral judgments and behavior. Four studies tested this claim. Study 1 used a Velten technique to threaten people’s belief in free will and found no effects on moral behavior, judgments of blame, and punishment decisions. Study 2 used six different threats to free will and failed to find effects on judgments of blame and wrongness. Study 3 found no effects on moral judgment when manipulating general free will beliefs but found strong effects when manipulating the perceived choice capacity of the judged agent. Study 4 used pretested narratives that varied agents’ apparent free will and found that perceived choice capacity mediated the relationship between free will and blame. These results suggest that people’s general beliefs about whether free will exists have no impact on moral judgments but specific judgments about the agent’s choice capacity do.

ERP Measures Assay the Degree of Expectancy Violation of Harmonic Contexts in Music

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Janata
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Time Measurement ◽  
Peak Latency ◽  
Overt Response ◽  
Expectancy Violations ◽  
Expectancy Violation ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Probability Structure ◽  
Musical Context

Expectancy violations of a highly constrained musical context were studied by presenting subjects with a chord sequence (I, IV, V) that generated a strong expectancy for a specific final chord, and then completing the sequence with either a “best-possible” (Tonic), harmonically plausible (Minor), or harmonically implausible (Dissonant) resolution. Subjects determined whether it was the best-possible resolution, and in one-half of the trials made their decision known with an overt response. Several ERP waveform components showed differences among resolution types, response conditions, and electrode locations. Among the affected components were two subclasses of the P300, the first of which (P3a) was largest in response to the Dissonant in both response conditions at all electrode sites. The area and peak amplitude of the P3b varied at several electrode sites as a function of the degree of expectancy violation represented by the resolutions. The peak latency of the P3b component reflected the behavioral response time measurement in which the Tonic and Dissonant were identified 300 msec more quickly than the Minor. A comparison between frequency and timedomain data analyses demonstrates several parallels, and it is concluded that both can serve to investigate the perception and processing of the probability structure underlying musical events and contexts.

Media Psychology “is not yet there”: Introducing Theories on Media Entertainment to the Presence Debate

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Klimmt ◽  
Peter Vorderer
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Simulation Theory ◽  
Interdisciplinary Cooperation ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Media Psychology ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Affective Disposition ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory ◽  
Theoretical Conceptualization

Contemporary theoretical explications of presence experiences can be advanced and completed by integrating theoretical frameworks from media psychology. This article briefly presents concepts related to media entertainment that have been elaborated and/or applied by media psychologists and that exhibit considerable overlaps with the explication of presence. Specifically, the concept of involvement (Vorderer, 1992), affective disposition theory (Zillmann, 1996), simulation theory (Oatley, 1994), and the psychological theory of play (Oerter, 1999) are introduced. For each framework, connection points to the theoretical conceptualization of presence are pointed out. The article illuminates new opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation in advancing our understanding of presence.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of identification and moral disengagement in the enjoyment of an antihero television series

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie H. Janicke ◽  
Arthur A. Raney
Keyword(s):  
Moral Disengagement ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Character Identification ◽  
Affective Disposition ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory

AbstractAffective disposition theory explains well the process of enjoying hero narratives but not the appeal of narratives featuring antiheroes. Recent antihero studies suggest that character identification and moral disengagement might be important factors in the enjoyment of such fare. The current study builds on this work. A sample of 101 self-identified fans and nonfans of the television series

Positive Parasocial Relationships with Drivers Affect Suspense in Racing Sport Spectators

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilo Hartmann ◽  
Daniela Stuke ◽  
Gregor Daschmann
Keyword(s):  
Significant Influence ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Causal Structure ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Parasocial Relationships ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Disposition Theory ◽  
Affective Disposition Theory

Abstract. The present study examines determinants of suspense on viewers observing sports on television. As an explanatory framework, an integrated model is proposed, linking the concept of (positive and negative) parasocial relationships (PSR) to the concept of affective dispositions as used in the affective disposition theory of drama. In the context of the popular sport of “Formula 1” racing, the hypothesized causal structure of the formation of suspense was tested in an empirical survey study. A structural equation model was calculated. Results show a significant influence of positive forms of PSR toward a favorite driver, either mediated by viewers' hopes for a positive outcome or influenced directly by the experienced level of suspense. While negative forms of PSR toward a disliked driver affect viewers' hopes for a negative outcome, they do not add to the level of suspense.

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