Binge-Watching, Self-Determination, and Well-Being: A Partially Successful Direct Replication and Extension of Granow et al. (2018)

Binge-watching is a highly relevant new media phenomenon. An increasing number of people watch multiple episodes of their favorite series online, a process often spanning several hours. Granow et al. (2018) showed that binge-watching is accompanied by both positive as well as negative psychological experiences. Because it is one of the most important studies on the topic, we conducted a direct replication of Granow et al. (2018). We also extended the original study by including additional variables derived from self-determination theory. We conducted an online questionnaire with 668 respondents. Results showed that we could not reproduce the exact model that was reported. We also needed to adapt several of the originally tested measures to achieve satisfactory model fit. After introducing these changes, results showed that we replicated 67 percent of all effects in terms of significance (i.e., originally significant effects were also significant in the replication, and vice versa). When looking at effect size (i.e., originally reported effects fell into the replication’s 95% confidence interval), we replicated 42 percent. Together, our study represents a partial replication of Granow et al. (2018). In our extension, we found two further positive links between binge-watching and well-being: Binge-watching was associated not only with greater autonomy, but also with increased feelings of competence and relatedness. Competence and relatedness were related to increased well-being, which included vitality, recovery experience, and media enjoyment. In line with Granow et al. (2018), we find that binge-watching is related to self-determined media use and improved psychological well-being.

The impact of cognitive and affective factors on the viewer’s preference for television programs

One of the greatest concerns to television program producers is to attract and retain viewers. There have been many studies aiming to predict and examine the determinants of viewers’ preference for television programs, of which the most outstanding is the research on media enjoyment by Nabi and Krcmar. In particular, Nabi and Krcmar proposed the tripartite model of media enjoyment effects on viewing and content-related behavior that comprises of affective reaction, cognitive reaction and behaviour reaction. A more generalized theory is that of Katz et al. on the uses and gratifications. Accordingly, the audience has a collection of needs that come from social and psychological origins and needs to be gratified; all types of mass communication media are only a facility to satisfy those needs. Four general categories of needs are identified, including (1) diversion; (2) personal relationships; (3) personal identity and; (4) surveillance. Later studies have been devoted to clarifying and extending these needs. This research employs the reliability test Cronbach’s Alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the research model and measure the influence of the cognitive and affective factors on the enjoyment and uses of television programs. The final objective of this research is to find the way to influence the viewers’ preference for reality programs/gameshows in Vietnam.

Personality Traits and Fans' Motives for Attention to Fictional Narratives

Fans of fictional narratives are highly involved with and attentive to media texts. The present study investigated personality traits likely to influence the motivations that drive fans of fictional narratives to attend to their preferred texts and engage with other fans, drawing on Oliver and Raney's two-factor model of media enjoyment. In a survey of self-identified fans of fictional narratives or series (n = 401), respondents completed measures of the Big-5 personality traits, fan community involvement, cognitive flexibility, and hedonic and eudaimonic motives for viewing fan media content. Eudaimonic motives were associated with trait openness and cognitive flexibility. Hedonic motives were associated with conscientiousness and cognitive flexibility, but negatively associated with emotional stability.

Effects of Human vs. Computer-Controlled Characters and Social Identity Cues on Enjoyment

This study explored how group identification, avatar similarity identification, and social presence mediated the effect of character type (avatars or agents) and social identity cues (presence or absence of avatars wearing participants’ school colors) on game enjoyment. Playing with teammate avatars increased enjoyment indirectly by enhancing group identification. In addition, the presence of social identity cues increased enjoyment indirectly by augmenting identification with one’s avatar. Unexpectedly, playing in multiplayer mode in the presence of social identity cues decreased enjoyment, whereas playing in multiplayer mode in the absence of social identity cues increased enjoyment. Social presence was not a reliable mediator. The findings supported media enjoyment and social identity theories, and highlighted how virtual character type and identification processes influence enjoyment.

Watching Players: An Exploration of Media Enjoyment on Twitch

Video game streaming platforms have reached high popularity within the last years. As one of these popular platforms, Twitch provides users with the opportunity to participate in several gaming situations: They can simultaneously watch in-game actions, the streamer playing the game, and additionally, they can interact with the streamer and other viewers by using the chat. In an online survey, the current study explored how individuals ( N = 548) experience media enjoyment when using Twitch. Findings indicate that social aspects of using Twitch predominantly contribute to enjoyment. Approaches toward the phenomenon of video game streaming as well as implications for research on the usage of second screens and Social TV are discussed.