Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, United States.
School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States.
Omega (Westport). 2022 Dec;86(2):553-575. doi: 10.1177/0030222820981236. Epub 2020 Dec 13.
The current manuscript presents a study that examines contextual factors that can explain two distinct types of viewer responses to death in narratives. Using procedures developed in past research, we explore why some narrative character deaths elicit poignant, eudaimonic responses while others elicit joyful, hedonic responses. We incorporate a control group to examine whether freely-recalled memorable deaths are more closely associated with feelings of meaning or pleasure. Results suggest that meaningful deaths lead to appreciation; befall liked, moral characters; and elicit mixed/negative affect, whereas pleasurable deaths lead to enjoyment; befall disliked, immoral characters, and elicit positive affect. In addition, freely-recalled character death is more closely aligned with meaningful death and its correlates than pleasurable death and its correlates. We conclude with a discussion of how the current findings can improve the use of mediated death in clinical settings, particularly as a strategy for approaching instances of disenfranchised grief.
这篇手稿介绍了一项研究，该研究考察了可以解释叙事中两种不同类型的观众对死亡反应的情境因素。我们使用过去研究中开发的程序，探讨了为什么一些叙事角色的死亡会引起痛苦的、幸福的反应，而另一些则会引起愉快的、享乐的反应。我们纳入了一个对照组，以检验自由回忆的难忘死亡是否与意义或愉悦感更密切相关。结果表明，有意义的死亡会引起欣赏；降临在喜欢的、有道德的角色身上；并引起混合/负面情绪，而愉快的死亡会引起享受；降临在不喜欢的、不道德的角色身上，并引起积极的情绪。此外，自由回忆的角色死亡与有意义的死亡及其相关因素比愉快的死亡及其相关因素更为一致。我们最后讨论了当前的发现如何改善在临床环境中使用中介死亡的方式，特别是作为一种处理被剥夺的悲伤的策略。
