Guilt

• In Event: Complex Emotions in Media-Psychology Research

Abstract

Emotions have traditionally played a major role in the field of media psychology and in entertainment research. The great majority of studies in this context have addressed emotional reactions to media content, whereas research dedicated to emotional reactions to media use per se is limited. However, in today’s media environment that grants almost ubiquitous access to media, making them a permanent source of distraction and temptation, the question how people feel about their own media use is of ever growing importance. Media use more and more frequently conflicts with other goals and obligations, resulting in appraisals of media use as a form of self-control failure and feelings of guilt. How such negative self-related emotions interact with the processing of media content and how they link self-control processes to the positive and negative effects of media exposure is largely unclear and a central challenge for future research in media psychology.

Author

• Leonard Reinecke, U of Mainz