From the “reel” world to the “real” world: subjective experiences of violent fictional entertainment

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaning-making
• motivation
• social realities
• violent entertainment

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our anonymous reviewer and the Editor for their very helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fiona Vaughan

Fiona Vaughan is currently working with the Department of Education as an ABA tutor, specializing in young children with autism. She has a BA in English, Media and Cultural Studies and a BSc in Psychology. Her primary research interests are viewer engagement with graphic entertainment and its impact on attitudes and behaviour, and evidence of non-pathological or “everyday” sadism in ordinary populations. Other areas of interest include qualitative research methodologies in real world settings.

Ronni Michelle Greenwood

Ronni Michelle Greenwood is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Limerick where she teaches community psychology and personality psychology Her research interests focus on ecological predictors of well-being for marginalized social groups.