Enjoyment of arousing television news: The role of age and sensation seeking

Mariska Kleemans; Paul Hendriks Vettehen; Rob Eisinga; Johannes W. J. Beentjes

doi:10.1515/commun-2014-0006

Article

Enjoyment of arousing television news: The role of age and sensation seeking

Mariska Kleemans , Paul Hendriks Vettehen , Rob Eisinga and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Published/Copyright: March 4, 2014

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From the journal Communications Volume 39 Issue 1

Abstract

This study investigated the role of television news as entertainment by focusing on the enjoyment that viewers experience while watching television news stories. In particular, the study examined the relationship between arousing news stories and enjoyment, and explored the potential moderating role of age and sensation seeking. Participants (N = 288) watched four news stories and reported both their feelings of arousal and their enjoyment of each story. An ∩-shaped relationship between arousal and enjoyment was found. This relationship was not moderated by sensation seeking, but it was moderated by age: The level of arousal at which enjoyment reached its maximum was higher in younger viewers.

Keywords: negative content; tabloid packaging; enjoyment; age; sensation seeking

Published Online: 2014-3-4

Published in Print: 2014-3-3

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2014-0006

Keywords for this article

negative content; tabloid packaging; enjoyment; age; sensation seeking