ABSTRACT

Self-transcendent media experiences are thought to involve cognitive engagement and mixed affect, leading to psychological well-being. The current study investigated whether these characteristics were reflected in viewers’ psychophysiological responses and sharing intentions. Multilevel model analyses revealed that viewers (n = 57) allocated more cognitive resources to encoding (heart rate), experienced greater physiological arousal (skin conductance level), and less positive but greater negative affect (facial electromyography), and were more motivated to share content (prosociality) when exposed to self-transcendent videos relative to humorous videos. Moreover, specific self-transcendent portrayals (appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, and hope) elicited greater cognitive effort and mixed affect relative to the average response of these videos. In line with emotional flow, cognitive resources increased after the transformational scene in each self-transcendent video, which was accompanied by a negative-to-positive emotional trajectory shift wherein negative emotion remained statistically the same but positive emotion increased. The current study provides initial evidence for theoretical development into the ways that self-transcendent content and narrative structure influence cognitive and affective responses and prosocial intentions.

摘要

自我超越的媒体体验被认为涉及认知参与和混合影响，从而导致心理健康。目前的研究调查了这些特征是否反映在观众的心理生理反应和分享意图中。多级模型分析显示，观众 ( n= 57）将更多的认知资源分配给编码（心率），经历了更大的生理唤醒（皮肤电导水平），正面影响较小但负面影响较大（面部肌电图），并且在暴露于自我时更有动力分享内容（亲社会性） - 相对于幽默视频的超然视频。此外，相对于这些视频的平均反应，特定的自我超越的描绘（对美丽和卓越的欣赏、感激和希望）引起了更大的认知努力和混合影响。与情绪流动相一致，在每个自我超越的视频中，在转变场景后认知资源增加，伴随着从消极到积极的情绪轨迹转变，其中消极情绪在统计上保持不变，但积极情绪增加。