News as nonfiction theater: How dispositions toward the public cast of characters affect reactions

World Leaders As Movie Characters? Perceptions of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein

“…These results indicate that in studying how people in the media are perceived and experienced, one explanatory model suffices for both realistic and fictional depictions of persons (cf. Hoorn, Konijn, & Van der Veer, 2003; also see Zillmann, Taylor, & Lewis, 1998).…”

Reality-Based Genre Preferences Do Not Direct Personal Involvement

“…Yet, the explanatory power of the represented reality criterion at the product side appeared to be limited, so that we have to look for other factors as well. Studies in affective disposition theory have repeatedly shown that the moral judgment of a character, whether he or she is a good hero or a bad villain, is important to engaging with characters (e.g., Raney & Bryant, 2002;Zillmann, 1994;Zillmann & Cantor, 1977) both in fiction and nonfiction (Zillmann, Taylor, & Lewis, 1998; see also Bryant, Roskos-Ewoldsen, & Cantor, 2003). Furthermore, studies in art perception (e.g., Cupchik, 1997;Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972) and interpersonal attraction (e.g., Baker & Churchill, 1977;Iannucci, 1992) emphasize that aesthetic appeal is an important contributing factor to (art) appreciation.…”

Emotional Reactions to Sports Heroes’ Rise and Fall: Application of Affective Disposition Theory Via the Hero Narrative

“…Even when characters are moral ambiguous, consumers enjoy them [21]. Audiences' favorable dispositions toward public figures heighten enjoyment when good things happen to those figures, and dampen reactions when bad things happen to them [7]. Schafer and Raney [20] xplored how audiences can still enjoy antihero figures, again utilizing story schema to facilitate this affective experience.…”

“…This theory has been successfully applied to content involving news, theatre, humor and sports. For example, Zillmann, Taylor, and Lewis [7] found that stories with individuals as opposed to topics (such as foreign affairs) elicited expected results. That is: the more a news consumer liked a news figure, the less amusing and enjoyable were the revelations about his/her victimization.…”

“…The reverse was also true: the more a news figure was disliked, the more amusing and enjoyable were such revelations. The researchers [7] suggested "Affective dispositions convert normative goodness and badness into subjectively good or bad news such that good and bad news, then, is 'in the eyes of the beholder,' rather than inherent in the events of a report". Zillmann, Bryant and Sapolsky reiterate that their findings of sports fans' connection to their players and teams "leave no doubt that people 'have feelings about athletes,' and that they enjoy or despise events and outcomes in accord with their feelings".…”