From fantasy to reality

Managing biomedical risk emotions in and through fictional media

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21148751
AutoresMarci D Cottingham (0000-0003-3519-4100, University of Amsterdam, autor de correspondencia), Jill A Fisher (0000-0002-9487-1493, Department of Social Medicine and Center for Bioethics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA)
Año2017
Volumen19
Número5-6
Páginas284-300
Fecha de publicación2017-08-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHealth Risk & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1369-8575 • E-ISSN: 1469-8331
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13698575.2017.1350638
PMID29249899
OpenAlexW2734884671
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas53

In this article, we explore the role that fictional media (film and television) play in evoking and managing collective and individual anxieties towards biomedical research. We draw on two data sets: fictional media depictions of human research subjects and interviews with Phase I clinical trial participants conducted in the USA in 2013. We show how fictional media provide an outlet for collective uncertainties surrounding biomedical research through depictions that mock and dehumanise research participants, using such emotions of shock, disgust, pity, amusement and humour. We analyse how themes from fictional media are also used to manage actual clinical trial participants' own anxiety concerning the unknown risks of research participation. By contrasting the reality of their research experience with fantasy derived from entertainment media, clinical trial participants minimise the seriousness of the side effects they have or may experience in actual Phase I clinical trials. We conclude that fictional media serve an important role in the collective and individual management of risk emotion

Aesthetics · Amusement · Art · Disgust · Entertainment · Epistemology · Fantasy · Literature · Pity · Seriousness · Visual arts · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Empathy and Medical Education · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology