Speaker: Guan Soon Khoo [@guansoon ]
Affiliation: University of Texas at Austin
Title: Avoiders, reappraisers, or meaning-seekers?: Exploring viewer traits that could heighten tragic insight and self-awareness
Abstract: The effects of tragic drama is an age-old research inquiry, but less is known about individual differences that could heighten its impact. A 2-condition (genre: tragic vs. light-comedy film) online experiment (N = 187) was conducted to test three trait variables – experiential avoidance, cognitive reappraisal, and search for meaning-in-life – that could enhance tragic insight, as measured by an openness to character distress, and self-perceptual depth, a form of deep self-awareness. The current study will first test the main effects of genre on openness to distress, self-perceptual depth, and identification, followed by interactions between genre and each of the traits.
Traits_Moderator_Poster.pdf (885.9 KB)
Long abstract
Cathartic processes and outcomes from tragedy engagement has been a topic of inquiry since Ancient Greece. In recent times, related studies in media psychology have examined the capacity of eudaimonic entertainment to promote reflection (Bartsch et al., 2014), the impact of contemplating tragedy on improved self-acceptance (Khoo, 2016), and the indirect effects of tragedy reflection on psychological health (Khoo & Graham-Engeland, 2016). Although researchers have associated eudaimonic entertainment, including tragedies, with insight about common human experiences and well-being (Oliver & Raney, 2011; Wirth et al., 2012), less is known about the types of reflection that promote human understanding and health-related benefits. An unpublished study tested various types of written reflection after tragedy exposure and found that openness to character distress raised self-compassion (a balanced emotion regulation approach in times of pain), which, in turn, was negatively associated with depressed mood over a 4-week interval (Khoo, 2024). This preliminary finding suggests that certain viewer traits may be linked to an openness to distress because tragedy viewership likely requires a willingness to tolerate the negative affective states that this genre tends to elicit. In short, insights from tragic entertainment may be more accessible to viewers who are open to distressing entertainment experiences. The present study will test three individual difference factors that may enhance viewers’ openness to distress and deepen their self-awareness, a correlate of self-compassion: (1) Experiential avoidance, an indicator of psychological inflexibility in times of distress (Bond et al., 2011; Kashdan et al., 2020), (2) cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy of changing the way one thinks as a means of coping (Gross, 2002; 2015), and (3) searching for meaning-in-life, a tendency to be reflective about life’s broader questions (Oliver & Raney, 2011; Steger et al., 2006). Further, three outcomes that are associated with tragedy research were selected: openness to distress, a new measurement scale that was constructed from participant essays in Khoo (2024), self-perceptual depth, an indicator of deep self-awareness that has been linked to self-compassion (Khoo, 2016; Sikora et al., 2010), and identification, a key variable in narrative engagement (Cohen, 2001; de Graaf et al., 2012). The following hypothesis is proposed: H1: Tragedy exposure leads to greater (a) openness to distress and (b) self-perceptual depth, and (c) identification, compared to comedy (control). Further, the following research question will be explored: RQ1: Do the following individual differences, (a) experiential avoidance, (b) cognitive reappraisal, and (c) search for meaning-in-life, respectively, further heighten (moderate) the effects of tragedy exposure on openness to distress, self-perceptual depth, and identification? Method Data was collected online via Qualtrics software using a 2-condition, IRB-approved experimental design that was embedded in a larger, unrelated study on perceptions of technology. The pre-questionnaire measured basic demographics information and the potential moderators. Then, participants were randomly assigned to film genre (tragedy or light-comedy); all participants were also asked to write for at least 1.5 minutes after film exposure . Later, a post-questionnaire measured outcome variables and demographics in greater detail, e.g., education level. Initially, two hundred completed responses were recorded (n = 200). The data collection service Connect CloudResearch was used to recruit U.S. participants in early June 2024. The average participation time was about an hour (M = 55.8, SD = 23.2) and compensation was US$ 6.00 each. Participation quality was measured using attention checks throughout the questionnaire such that an attention error score was calculated, ranging from 0 to 5; participants earn one point for each failed check, which included 2 stimulus story quiz questions, and 3 instruction reading checks. Ten participants were filtered out because they scored more than 1 point on attention error. The sample was thus reduced to one hundred and ninety (n = 190). In the preliminary analysis, 3 negative outliers in one of the potential moderators were filtered out for a final sample of one hundred and eighty seven (N = 187). The following demographics information describes the final sample: 43% female, 61% White, 26% Black, 62% had a 4-year college degree or greater, 67% earned household incomes of US$ 50,000 or more, and 49% reported having at least one child. The stimulus films for two genres, tragic drama and light comedy, consisted of shortened, 15-minute Hollywood films. Each genre was represented by two different films: Mystic River (2003) or In the Bedroom (2001) for tragedy and Wedding Crashers (2005) or Superbad (2007) for comedy. Further, there was no differences across age (p = .5) and gender (p = .9) on genre assignment. Measurement statistics, results, and discussion will be reported during the conference.
