Self-Construal and Elevation: Intercultural Differences in Transported Values Through Mass Media Content

• In Event: Mass Communicating With Power: Exploring Media’s Capacity to Promote Moral Emotions and Inspire Prosociality

Abstract

Previous research has linked the portrayal of values in media to the experience of elevation which in turn is associated with specific physiological reactions, mixed affect and moral intentions. However, intercultural comparisons demonstrate that people differ with regard to their perception of themselves, their preference for mixed affect and the importance of values. This talk will extend the idea of media’s power to elicit elevation and motivate moral behaviors to an intercultural context. In particular, intercultural differences in self-construal (independent and interdependent) will be linked to the importance of values depicted in pleasurable and meaningful films and their impact on elevation and moral intentions. Data from a cross-cultural study (Germany vs. Middle East) in which individualist (e.g., power and achievement), collectivist (e.g., tradition, conformity) and universal values (e.g., benevolence) are connected to media responses will be presented and their consequence for media effects and cultural comparisons will be discussed.

Authors

• Diana Rieger, University of Mannheim

• Lena Frischlich, University of Cologne

• Mary Beth Oliver, Pennsylvania State U