Person vis-à-vis Content Effects: Individual Differences in Cognitive, Emotional, and Arousal Responses to Media Content

• In Event: Moving Us Forward: Pushing Our Theoretical and Methodological Boundaries

Abstract

Cognitive, emotional, and arousal responses to media content stem from two sources of variation: differences in content and differences between individuals. Although content effects have been well-studied, individual differences (person effects) in responses to media are an important unsolved issue of communication science. This study investigated how four theoretically-relevant variables (need for cognition, affective empathy, sensation seeking, and sensory processing sensitivity) affect these responses to media entertainment. In a within-subjects design, 243 youth aged 7-15 years (49.9% female) responded to a positive and negative film clip using both self-report and physiological measures (heart rate, skin conductance), while parents reported on children’s individual differences. Multilevel analysis distinguished between content and person effects on responses. Results showed that more variation in responses was due to differences between participants than to differences between stimuli. Need for cognition, affective empathy, sensation seeking, and sensory processing sensitivity did not explain this between-participant variation in responses.

Authors

• Karin Fikkers, Utrecht University / UiL OTS

• Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, U of Amsterdam/ASCoR