Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-18-2021
Abstract
Scholars have increasingly explored the ways that media content can touch, move, and inspire audiences, leading to numerous beneficial outcomes including increased feelings of connectedness to and heightened motivations for doing good for others. Although this line of inquiry is relatively new, sufficient evidence and patterns of results have emerged such that a clearer picture of the inspiring media experience is coming into focus. This article has two primary goals. First, we seek to synthesize the existing research into a working and evolving model of inspiring media experiences reflecting five interrelated and symbiotic elements: exposure, message factors, responses, outcomes, and personal/situational factors. The model also identifies theoretical mechanisms underlying the previously observed positive effects. Secondly, the article explores situations in which, and precipitating factors present, when these hoped-for outcomes either fail to materialize or result in negative or maladaptive responses and outcomes. Ultimately, the model is proposed as a heuristic roadmap for future scholarship and as an invitation for critique and collaboration in the emerging field of positive media psychology.
Recommended Citation
Oliver, M. B., Raney, A. A., Bartsch, A., Janicke-Bowles, S., Appel, M., & Dale, K. (2021). Model of inspiring media. Media Psychology, 33(4), 191-201. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000305
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Psychology Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in Media Psychology, volume 33, issue 4, in 2021. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000305