Media That Stir Emotions

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Week 12 Lecture Notes – Kajsa Dalrymple – April 18, 2013

* Media that stir emotions * Today’s lecture (April 18)

* Announcements * Exam 3 is done! * Grades will be posted on Saturday 5pm

* Where we were… * Media effects on our attitudes and behaviors regarding: * Violence * Self-image * Identity * Stereotypes * Perceptions of the world

* Today… * How do media influence our emotions? * And, how do our emotions influence our media choices? * * What is emotion? * A relatively brief state of arousal that is valenced positively or negatively * Physiological arousal responsible for the intensity of the emotion * Our cognitive processing of that arousal is responsible for the labeling of the feeling

* Why are emotions important? * Survival * Because they are instinctual, they help us evaluate situations quickly * Decision making * Feelings help us understand what is right and wrong * Communication * They help us navigate social situations

* Learning emotional cues * We primarily learn emotional cues through non-verbal communication with our social groups * To a lesser extent we rely on tone of voice, and the actual words said to us

* 5 basic emotions * Innate Emotions * Almost every animal on the planet is born with five types of emotions: * Happiness, fear, anger, sadness, disgust * These emotions represent the physiological response to situations

* Social Emotions * We also experience social or secondary emotions * Appear after primary emotions * May be caused directly by primary emotions, or may come from blending emotions * Shame, guilt, nervousness, embarrassment, giddiness

* Emotions in society * Primary and secondary emotions help us organize ourselves within our social groups * We seek approval, and learn how to behave around others based on our interactions

* Media influencing our emotions * Much like violent media content can influence our perception of the world, different types of content can influence our emotional status.

* Media and emotions * Mass media provide a continual flow of stories used by audiences to observe emotions of all kinds of characters and situations * Media are a valuable source of information about how different emotions should be expressed * Example: Sheldon and sarcasm

* How media influence our emotions * Perceptual Stage: * Years 2-7 * Frightened of cartoons, fantasy characters and situations * Conceptual Stage: * Years 7+ * Developing logic & processing skills * Frightened of things that are really possible

* How media influence our emotions * Throughout our lives, media continue to influence our emotions * Trigger emotional reactions * Media trigger strong and simple emotions * Alter emotions * Specific types of