Soap Opera Exposure and Enjoyment: A Longitudinal Test of Disposition Theory

Abstract

Drama's appeal is driven in part by dispositions toward story characters and the deservingness of fortunes that befall them. This article reports the results of longitudinal research testing disposition theory's ability to predict viewer responses to daytime soap opera. A student sample completed a survey asking them to evaluate characters over 10 successive weeks. Measures of character morality and positive/negative outcomes for behaviors were used to predict the results of both viewer enjoyment and official Nielsen ratings in representative independent surveys covering the same 10 weeks. Consistent with disposition theory logic, an a priori specified interaction of character morality and behavioral outcome valence—the Disposition Vector Model—predicted higher Nielsen ratings and increased viewer enjoyment when benefaction/debasement befell characters morally deserving of these outcomes. Although well supported in short-term studies, to our knowledge this is the first study to support disposition theory over extended exposure to soap operas and predicting results in independent data sources.

Preliminary analyses were presented in a panel session at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association, San Antonio, TX, November, 2006. The current article includes additional data not previously reported. All analyses reported in this article are presented here for the first time.

The authors wish to thank Tom Alfieri for his valuable input and support in obtaining access to the archival data sets from NBC Universal. We also want to thank Allison Eden for her assistance with the organization of the data collection process.

Notes

∗∗∗p < .001,

∗∗p < .01,

∗p < .05.

∗∗∗p < .001,

∗∗p < .01,

∗∗∗p < .001,

∗∗p < .01, ∗p < .05; R ² = 8.6%, F(3, 252) = 7.902∗∗∗.

1. Recent Nielsen ratings for first-run broadcasts during the week of April 14, 2008, show an average program rating of 2.18 with a cumulative rating for all daytime soap operas of 17.4. This represents about 2.5 million daily viewers, on average, for each of the eight current daytime soap operas and a total daily viewing of over 19.6 million in the United States. Of course, these numbers ignore viewers who tape or watch Internet broadcasts (e.g., via SOAPnet) of these programs (“About The Latest Ratings,” 2008).

2. To request a text version of the survey, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

3. We thank NBC Universal for providing access to the archival datasets.