TY - JOUR
T1 - From the “reel” world to the “real” world
T2 - subjective experiences of violent fictional entertainment
AU - Vaughan, Fiona
AU - Greenwood, Ronni Michelle
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2017/7/3
Y1 - 2017/7/3
N2 - Fictional violence holds strong appeal for a wide audience. Given this appeal and the public’s concern about it, researchers have extensively investigated whether there is a direct effect of exposure to fictional violence on individuals’ aggressive behaviours. In the present research, we aimed to contribute to the comparatively smaller body of research concerned with factors that motivate individuals to engage with fictional violence. We interviewed 10 adults about their own subjective understanding of the reasons why they engage with fictional violence. We used thematic analysis to explore participants’ talk about their subjective experiences of their motivations. We interpret our findings to indicate that individuals make sense of their engagement with fictional violence as a means to understand the real world, to regulate arousal, and to experience a just world. We discuss the practical implications of these findings and directions for future research.
AB - Fictional violence holds strong appeal for a wide audience. Given this appeal and the public’s concern about it, researchers have extensively investigated whether there is a direct effect of exposure to fictional violence on individuals’ aggressive behaviours. In the present research, we aimed to contribute to the comparatively smaller body of research concerned with factors that motivate individuals to engage with fictional violence. We interviewed 10 adults about their own subjective understanding of the reasons why they engage with fictional violence. We used thematic analysis to explore participants’ talk about their subjective experiences of their motivations. We interpret our findings to indicate that individuals make sense of their engagement with fictional violence as a means to understand the real world, to regulate arousal, and to experience a just world. We discuss the practical implications of these findings and directions for future research.
KW - Meaning-making
KW - motivation
KW - social realities
KW - violent entertainment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014502004&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14780887.2017.1290175
DO - 10.1080/14780887.2017.1290175
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85014502004
SN - 1478-0887
VL - 14
SP - 266
EP - 287
JO - Qualitative Research in Psychology
JF - Qualitative Research in Psychology
IS - 3
ER -