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Session Submission Type: Panel
The mass communication canon is filled with studies probing the deleterious effects of media content and technology on individuals and society as a whole. In recent years, though, scholars have increasingly explored ways that the power of media communication can be harnessed to promote personal well-being and human flourishing and to inspire prosocial and others’ benefitting behaviors. Of particular interest in such work has been the role of moral emotional reactions to media content. Research reveals that moral emotions such as empathy, gratitude, hope, guilt, and especially, the subset known as self-transcendent emotions—elevation, awe, and admiration—can draw us out of our usual state of (ego-centric, self-) consciousness, motivating us to strive to better ourselves and all humanity (e.g., Algoe & Haidt, 2009; Frederickson, 2009; Haidt, 2003; Haidt & Morris, 2009; Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Reflecting on the conference theme of “Communicating with Power,” scholars from eight different institutions in the United States and Germany will discuss their ongoing efforts to examine the ways that media content has the power to trigger moral emotional reactions and how those reactions may (or may not) be associated with beneficial personal and social outcomes. Their work reflects a breadth of empirical mass communication research, including explorations of media’s power to promote well-being and inspire prosociality in contexts ranging from the workplace to the department store to home life, and with content as diverse as environmental messages, user-generated viral videos, and digital games.
Mapping the Anatomy of Inspiration: Identifying and Analyzing Elicitors of Self-Transcendent Emotions in Media - Katherine R. Dale, Florida State University; Arthur A. Raney, Florida State U; Sophie H Janicke, University of Arkansas
When We are the Creators: Implications of User Generation of Inspiring Media Messages - Mary Beth Oliver, Pennsylvania State U; Arienne Ferchaud, Pennsylvania State University; Keunyeong (Karina) (Karina) Kim, California State University Dominguez Hills; Ruoxu Wang, The Pennsylvania State University; Fan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Thomas Franklin Waddell; Tsai-Wei Chen, Pennsylvania State U
Examining Video Games’ Power to Inspire Prosociality through Self-Transcendent Emotions - Daniel Possler, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
Courage to Face the Truth: Positive, Negative and Mixed Affect as Predictors of Individuals’ Acceptance of Ego-Threatening Information in Prosocial Media Messages - Anne Bartsch, LMU Munich; Johanna Keppeler, LMU Munich; Andrea Kloss, LMU Munich; Lukas A. Angerer, Erfurt U; Miriam Humml, LMU Munich; Theresa Leitner, LMU Munich
Self-Construal and Elevation: Intercultural Differences in Transported Values Through Mass Media Content - Diana Rieger, University of Mannheim; Lena Frischlich, University of Cologne; Mary Beth Oliver, Pennsylvania State U
Moral Emotions in Pro-Environmental Messages - Laura M. Arpan, Florida State U; Arthur A. Raney, Florida State U; Zihan Wang, Florida State U
Exploring the “Spirit” of Inspiring Media - Sophie H Janicke, University of Arkansas