Exploring the effects of positive emotions and attribution on helping behaviors after exposure to meaningful and pleasurable movies

Bibliographic Data

ID21577259
AuthorsDanyang Zhao (0000-0002-1332-6101, corresponding author), Arthur A Raney (0000-0001-8965-8068)
Year2023
Volume40
Issue5
Pages261-271
Publication date2023-10-20
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommunication Research Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0882-4096 • E-ISSN: 1746-4099
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08824096.2023.2269085
OpenAlexW4387695271
LanguageEN
References cited17

This study examined whether elevation elicited by meaningful movie clips led to helping regardless of whether a stranger’s need for help is attributed to a controllable or an uncontrollable cause. It also compared elevation against positive-valenced affective state in facilitating prosocial behavior. A randomized, between-subject laboratory experiment was conducted with 208 undergraduate participants in the United States approximately one week after they completed a pretest survey. Although participants experienced the induced emotional state, neither of these two types of positive emotions explained their helping behavior. This points to the nuanced nature of the relationships between positive emotions and helping. The role of media content types, attribution, and prosocial personality are also discussed

Attribution · Prosocial behavior · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Open DOI