MA Thesis Communication Sciences - Why Enjoyment May Be More than the Pursuit of Pleasure

Why Enjoyment May Be More
than the Pursuit of Pleasure
On the Role of Prior Experience and Emotions in Media Enjoyment
Rianne Wijmenga (1539817)
rwa700@student.vu.nl
August 11th 2011
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Social Sciences
Master’s thesis, department of Communication Science
Supervisor: prof. dr. Elly A. Konijn
Second reader: dr. Cees M. Koolstra

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ABSTRACT
This research tried to gain new insights in the sad movie paradox by combining the perspectives of three earlier studies: 1) Nabi, Finnerty, Domschke, and Hull (2006) on the therapeutic effects of media; 2) Konijn, Walma van der Molen, and Van Nes, (2009) on emotions bias perceptions; and 3) Oliver and Raney (in press) on eudaimonic media use. Through a quasi-experiment embedded in a questionnaire (N = 236) data were collected among adolescents, testing the influence of prior experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness to thinking about bullying, and being exposed to a bullying-related film clip on media preference, enjoyment, coping, information value, perceived realism, and eudaimonic viewing motives. The results showed that prior experience with having been bullied affected adolescents’ preference for bullying-related films, and their enjoyment of it. Coping with emotions, and both perceived realism and information value had a positive influence on enjoyment. Results are discussed suggesting enjoyment is more than the pursuit of pleasure, because media use is affected by users’ interest in gaining new insights through media.

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INDEX
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical background .................................................................................................................... 7
Bullying, emotions, and media use .............................................................................................. 7
Insight through emotion theory .................................................................................................... 8
Coping with emotions ................................................................................................................ 10
The main hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 11
Enjoyment and coping styles ...................................................................................................... 13
Perceived realism and information value ................................................................................... 14
Eudaimonic viewing motivations ............................................................................................... 17
Method ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Participants ................................................................................................................................. 20
Design ......................................................................................................................................... 20
Stimulus materials ...................................................................................................................... 21
Measures ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Procedure .................................................................................................................................... 26
Results ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Preliminary analyses .................................................................................................................. 28
Testing H1: media preference .................................................................................................... 31
Testing H2: enjoyment ............................................................................................................... 33
Testing H3: coping with emotions ............................................................................................. 35
Analyzing the RQ: coping and enjoyment ................................................................................. 38
Testing H4: perceived realism and information value ............................................................... 40
Testing H5: perceived realism, information value, and enjoyment ........................................... 44
Testing H6: eudaimonic viewing motives .................................................................................. 46
Conclusions and discussion ............................................................................................................ 51
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 51
Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 52
Answering the research question ................................................................................................ 57
Limitations and future research .................................................................................................. 57
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 60
References ...................................................................................................................................... 61
Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 66

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INTRODUCTION
The words “entertainment” and “enjoyment” are frequently used together (Oliver & Raney, in press). Sometimes the use of entertainment media even seems equal to media enjoyment. Enjoyment also is a major focus of media psychology research (Vorderer, Klimmt, & Ritterfeld, 2004); the current study focuses on media enjoyment as well. But there is a gap in media enjoyment research. Researchers seem to have a tendency to forget media consumers do not just watch comedy films, or romantic films with a happy ending. People are also drawn to films that scare them to death, or make them cry; not the kind of entertainment media that immediately brings the word “enjoyment” into mind. Even people that themselves have experienced the most difficult events someone can experience in life, like losing a loved one, seem to be able to endure watching a film character experience something similar. Perhaps they even seek out such media fare themselves?
The present research examines whether media enjoyment is more than the pursuit of pleasure. Why should people want to watch a film about an experience that is associated with negative emotions? The experience the present study is about is experience with having been bullied by classmates. According to studies by Leymann (1996; Leymann & Gustafsson, 1996), bullying is highly destructive for an individual who is a victim of this kind of behavior. The negative actions inflicted on someone can lead to life-long damage (Leymann, 1996). Bullying has even been connected to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Leymann, & Gustafsson, 1996). This does not sound like a fun topic someone would want to watch a film about; especially not when the media user in question is a bullying victim him- or herself.
The question why people enjoy counter-hedonic media is sometimes called the sad movie paradox (Oliver, 1993). Several researchers already tried to explain the use of counter-hedonic media (e.g., Kim & Oliver, 2011; 2007; Knobloch, Weisbach, & Zillmann, 2004; Knobloch, & Zillmann, 2003). Nabi, Finnerty, Domschke, and Hull (2006) belong to the scholars who assume

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that media users may choose media for other reasons than just for pleasure. They studied the therapeutic effects of TV viewing on feelings of regret, taking into account the difference between people who actually cheating on their partner, and people who did not. By integrating emotion theory into media theory, Nabi et al. (2006) offered a new approach to the issue of the enjoyment of sad films in general, and to the enjoyment of media content that may confront people with painful memories in particular.
The study by Nabi et al. (2006) provided us with interesting results. Their results showed that watching a cheating-related TV show may help someone to cope with his or her feelings of regret due to having cheated on one’s partner in the past. But the study lacked certain crucial elements. Firstly, Nabi et al. (2006) did not use a specific measurement to measure coping with emotions. They tested the coping of their participants through comparing their level of regret prior to watching a cheating-related TV show with their level of regret after watching the show. The conclusion that the show worked therapeutically because the feelings of regret were diminished may seem a bit too simple, especially since it is well-known that people use media as a distraction, trying to forget about their problems (Katz, Gurevitch, & Haas, 1973). In addition, Nabi et al. (2006) assumed that gaining new insight made people enjoy the TV show, but they did not measure how information participants gained from watching to the TV show. Nor did they test the effect of gaining new insights on enjoyment.
The current research will draw on the study by Nabi et al. (2006). Yet in the present study another emotional experience will be studied among a different target group, and an improved research design will be used. Instead of studying the effect of having experience with cheating on one’s partner, the present study will focus on the emotional experience of having been bullied by classmates among adolescents. Although bullying occurs among all age groups, a large majority of the research is targeted on minors, children and adolescents (Tokunaga, 2010; Espelage, & Swearer, 2003). This study focuses on bullying among adolescents. Adolescents are large media

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consumers (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). To them it would probably make perfectly sense to turn to media for coping with their emotions.
The improvement of Nabi et al.’s (2006) research design will consist of a measurement for coping with emotions. The measurement will not replace the comparison of the level of emotions prior to and after experience-relevant film exposure, but complement it. Additionaly, the present study will introduce the insights of a study by Konijn, Walma van der Molen, and Van Nes (2009), adding measurements of perceived realism and information value to the research design. For both additions, their connection to enjoyment will be tested. Finally, since the enjoyment of media through gaining information may point to having a meaningful life experience, it is a small step to involving eudaimonic viewing motives. This will be done based on a study by Oliver and Raney (in press).
By combining the three studies of Nabi et al. (2006), Konijn et al. (2009), and Oliver and Raney (in press), the current research will integrate three recent innovative lines of research in order to increase our understanding of how viewers may enjoy sad, gruesome, or terrifying media offerings. The different perspectives should lead to an answer to the main research question of the present study: Can enjoyment be more than the pursuit of pleasure? Two subquestions are attached to this main question: What influence do media users’ prior experiences and emotional responsiveness have on their preference for and enjoyment of experience-related counter-hedonic media? and What is the effect of coping with emotions through media and the information value of that media content on the enjoyment of it?

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The present study will focus on the influence of prior experience and emotional responsiveness when thinking about that experience on media preference and enjoyment, and to what extent this affects the “learning experience” media can be. This section will start with looking into the experience the present study focuses on: experience with having been bullied. The following paragraphs will successively describe literature related to media preference and enjoyment, coping with emotions, the perceived realism and information value, and eudaimonic viewing motives. It will be argued that users do not just choose certain kinds of media to fulfil their emotional needs. Media can also serve as a source of information about one’s emotions, and how to handle them.
Bullying, emotions, and media use
The present study focuses on adolescents with experience with having been bullied. A widely used definition of bullying is by one of the most prominent researchers on this type of child behavior, Dan Olweus (1993). Olweus defines being bullied as repeatedly and over time being exposed to negative actions of classmates, whereas a negative action can be described as some kind of intentionally inflicted injury or discomfort upon another. These actions can be carried out by physical contact, by words, or in other ways, such as intentional exclusion from a group (Olweus, 1993). Prior research on both bullying and media tended to focus on the negative influence of media on bullying behavior (e.g., the emerging problem of cyberbullying; David-Ferdon & Feldman Hertz, 2007; see review by Tokunaga, 2010). However, the present study will examine whether media can also have a positive effect on adolescents who are victims of bullying behavior; on how to handle of the emotions that are connected to bullying to be precisely.

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What kind of emotions are associated with bullying? Various researchers already studied bullying among adolescents in relation to negative emotions (e.g., Hunter, Boyle, & Warden, 2004). Several studies showed having experience with being bullied results in feeling sad most days (Glew, Fan, Katon, Rivara, & Kernic, 2005), or even really unhappy and distressed (Rigby, 2003). Furthermore, anger was connected to bullying (Ireland & Archer, 2004). Sadness and anger may also be aroused by bullying-related media. However, no-one would connect these negative emotions with media enjoyment. Based only on the above, adolescents would probably not be interested in bullying-related media.
Taking Zillmann’s (1988) influential Mood Management Theory (MMT) into account confirms the assumption. MMT posits that people use media to influence their affective states: to alter negative moods as well as to maintain and prolong positive ones (Zillmann, 1988). An important starting-point of this theory is the idea that people are driven by hedonistic desires, or, stated differently, the pursuit of pleasure: people will always try to maximize pleasant feeling states, and minimize unpleasant one. A large amount of research supports MMT (see review by Oliver, 2003), and many researchers turn to MMT to make predictions about media use. However, one may wonder why people would want to watch a film about an experience that is associate with negative emotions.
Insight through emotion theory
Films about experiences that are associated with negative emotions may count as counter-hedonic media: media that do not seem to meet the demands MMT, namely the pursuit of pleasure (Kim & Oliver, 2007). Examples of counter-hedonic media are the horror film or the so-called tearjerker: films that respectively intend to scare viewers with shock effects and usually lots of blood, or to bring them to tears (Oliver, 1993). The present research follows a study by Nabi et al. (2006) that tried to gain a bit more insight in the enjoyment of counter-hedonic media by

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studying the therapeutic effects of TV viewing. Nabi et al. focused on Zillmann’s (2000) attempt to explain counter-hedonic media use. Zillmann (2000) identified four options people have when confronted with counter-hedonic media: (a) avoidance of emotion-relevant media content, (b) avoidance of entertainment media altogether, (c) watching informational/educational media content to aid coping, or (d) exposure to entertainment media driven by informational needs. But Zillmann (2000) made no suggestions about which option would be accurate in which situation, and for whom.
Nabi et al. (2006) suggested that emotion theory may provide the additional information necessary to make more precise predictions of which of Zillmann’s (2000) four options people will choose when confronted with counter-hedonic media. Emotion theorists showed there is a connection between negative emotional experiences, and both coping needs and information- seeking goals (Nabi, 2003; 1999; Lazarus, 1991 in Nabi et al., 2006). Based on this, Nabi et al. (2006) reasoned that emotion-relevant entertainment programs might serve as potential sources of information for those seeking to cope with their distress. Therefore, media use may be affected by the need to gather knowledge about how to cope with emotions, instead of being directed by certain emotional needs (Nabi et al., 2006).
Nabi et al. (2006) pointed out specific theory on the emotion under investigation should be used, as will be done in the present study. In their study, Nabi et al. focussed on the feelings of regret that are connected to cheating on one’s partner, or being cheated on. According to them, regret is associated with cognitive preoccupation, keeping a person stuck in a past experience, and preventing him or her from moving forward (Landman, 1993 in Nabi et al., 2006). To deal with cognitive preoccupation, it may be useful for someone to learning from past mistakes. This is where media comes in. Nabi et al. (2006) reasoned that cheating-related media content can provide people with the required information. Although reopening a wound is not pleasant, from an informational standpoint experience-related entertainment can be enjoyable, since it might help a person to move on with his or her life.

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Coping with emotions
The reasoning that Nabi et al. (2006) used may also be applied to the experience of having been bullied and media use. Like people cannot move forward without dealing with their feelings of regret, experience with having been bullied is connected to extreme emotions people want to deal with (Rigby, 2003). Nabi et al. (2006) used the term coping to denote gaining new insights regarding handling emotions. But what actually is coping? Coping originated from stress research, and can be placed under the broad definition of emotion regulation (Garnefski, Kraaij & Spinhoven, 2001). Emotion regulation can be specified as strategies that influence one’s emotions; what we feel, how intense we feel it, and how we cope with these emotions (Gross, 1998). It is most often used to control the unpleasant effects of negative emotions, like anger, sadness, or loneliness (Gross et al., 2006 in Konijn & Ten Holt, 2010). These emotions are also linked to experience with having been bullied.
Coping specifically refers to behavior that protects people from being psychologically harmed by problematic social experiences (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). It may be defined as “cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person” (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 in Gross, 1998, p.274). Two major functions of coping are distinguished: problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping (Compas, Orosan & Grant, 1993). Problem-focused coping strategies refer to attempts to act on the stressor, the source of the (negative) emotion. Emotion- focused coping, refers to attempts to manage the emotions associated with the stressor. The latter is of importance for the present study, because of its focus is on dealing with emotions. Gaining insights in how to deal with these emotions may happen through media use. Knowledge of how to handle emotions that are upsetting may help someone to break out of the cognitive

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preoccupation caused by these emotions. In turn, this may lead to appreciation for, or even enjoyment of the media content that provides one with the knowledge.
The main hypotheses
The theory outlined in the previous paragraphs leads to the main hypotheses of the present study, related to media preference, media enjoyment, and coping. First, it is assumed that adolescents will be interested in watching bullying-related films. Both adolescents with experience with having been bullied and adolescents who were not bullied will experience negative emotions when they think about being bullied themselves. Bullying-related films may help them to gain insights in how to handle these emotions. This effect will probably be stronger among adolescents with experience with having been bullied, since they have their actual experience to deal with. Following MMT, adolescents without experience with having been bullied will probably anticipate the negative effect watching a bullying-related film will have on their mood. This would probably diminish their interest in bullying-related media. It seems likely to assume the effect of prior experience is affected by the level of emotions adolescents experience when thinking about bullying. Based on this, the following hypotheses were formulated relating to media preference:
H1a: Adolescents who were bullied will be more interested in watching bullying-related films than those without experience with having been bullied.
H1b: Emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying will interact with experience with having been bullied, such that the effect of H1a will be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions.

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Although watching a bullying-related film may bring back painful memories, adolescents who have been bullied may be able to endure it to gain new insights about how to handle the negative emotions they experience due to the bullying. This will probably also be the reason why they enjoy a bullying-related film. MMT will once more diminish this enjoyment among adolescents without experience with having been bullied. Again, it seems likely to assume both effects are stronger among adolescents high on negative emotions than on adolescents low on negative emotions. Based on this, the following hypotheses were formulated relating to media enjoyment
H2a: Adolescents who were bullied will enjoy watching a bullying-related film clip more than those without experience with having been bullied.
H2b: Emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying will interact with experience with having been bullied, such that the effect of H2a will be larger among those high on emotions than among those low on emotions.
The present study will look into the effects of experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness on coping with bullying-related emotions. Adolescents who actually experienced bullying by classmates will probably have more to cope with than those without experience with bullying. The actual bullying victims have to protect themselves from the emotional consequences of a problematic social experience (Garnefski, Kraaij & Spinhoven, 2001). But having no experience with bullying does not mean those adolescents do not get emotional when being confronted with bullying-related media. So they may use media to cope with those emotions. Regarding being either high or low on emotions when thinking about bullying, it would also make sense that more emotions to cope with would lead to more coping. This effect is possibly even stronger among adolescents that actually experience having been bullied than among adolescents who have no experience. Based on this, the following hypotheses were formulated relating to coping with emotions

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H3a: Adolescents who were bullied will score higher on coping than adolescents without experience with having been bullied.
H3b: Emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying will interact with experience with having been bullied, such that the effect of H3a will be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions.
Enjoyment and coping styles
Nabi et al. (2006) assumed that being able to cope with emotions would automatically result in media enjoyment. This appears to be a logical assumption: knowing how to deal with negative emotions makes life easier. Hence, one enjoys the source of this information. This may also be connected to the assumptions of MMT: using media to minimize unpleasant feeling states (Zillmann, 1988). Knowing how to deal with negative emotions implies minimizing these negative emotions, which results in feeling better.
However, there is not enough research on this topic to confirm this statement. There are a lot of different ways people may handle their emotions; a lot of different emotion regulation strategies people may use. Research showed different strategies were associated with different outcomes (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spinhoven, 2001). This may possibly affect the media enjoyment. Examples of emotion regulations strategies that are of relevance to this study are rumination and reflection. Both are a kind of self-attentiveness, and associated with identity exploration: what does someone think about oneself (Luyckx, et al., 2007; Trapnell & Campell, 1999). The motivations of both strategies are different. Rumination is defined as neurotic self- attentiveness, motivated by perceived threats, losses, or injustices to the self. Reflection was designated as intellectual self-attentiveness, motivated by curiosity or epistemic interest in the self (Trapnell & Campell, 1999). When described in terms of emotion regulation, rumination

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would translate to hanging onto negative emotions. Someone who reflects on his or her emotions would try to find out what went wrong, and what can be learned out of the situation (Luyckx, et al., 2007).
The use of both strategies was associated with different outcomes. Rumination tended to be associated with higher levels of neuroticism, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema, Parker, & Larson, 1994). Reflection is related to higher levels of personal identity, perspective-taking, and openness to experience (Luyckx et al., 2007). When “learning” a certain strategy through media use, the outcomes of the strategy may also affect the enjoyment of the media content. Reflecting on one’s emotions may therefore be associated with a more positive outcome, and may therefore have a positive effect on media enjoyment, that ruminating one’s emotions. To examine this assumption, the following research question will be implemented:
RQ: What is the relationship between enjoying media content about bullying and coping styles, in particular the coping strategies rumination and reflection?
Perceived realism and information value
To make predictions about how informative people think certain media content is, it is essential to measure the information value of that content. To do this, the present study introduces the study by Konijn, Walma van der Molen, and Van Nes (2009). They defined information value as “the weight or importance a viewer ascribes to the content that reaches him or her via a media program (both in words, sounds, and images) and the judgment of the importance of that content for one’s own life or worldview” (p. 316).
Prior research assumed the information function of media, and that media influence how people perceive the world around them (e.g., Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 2002; Shapiro & Lang, 1991). Especially with the blurring of borders between fact and fiction on

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television and in films, people may increasingly use entertainment media as reliable source of information (Konijn et al., 2009). Besides “learning” facts about their environment, people may also “learn” about emotions by watching films. For example, using media can serve as a so-called vicarious experience: viewers of narrative media content adopt the perspective of the characters, and experience emotions that reflect their evaluation of events from the characters' perspective (Bartsch & Viehoff, 2010).
Every media experience is personal and may differ from one person to the other. The information value that is perceived by a user is also subjective, and may be influence by several other factors. This is where a study by Konijn et al. (2009) comes at hand. They investigated whether emotions induced in TV-viewers would increase viewers’ perception of realism in a fake documentary and affect the information value that viewers would attribute to its content. Their study demonstrated that experiencing emotions while watching visual media may bias the perceptions of its content. The information value of a fake documentary was influenced by the emotions viewers experience while watching. The induction of negative emotions in viewers lead participants to perceive the documentary as more realistic and holding more information than viewers who did not experience such emotions. This may apply to the bullying-related emotions in this study as well.
Besides being influenced by emotions, Konijn et al (2009) also found that perceived realism was a better predictor of how informative viewers thought a television segment was than how it was framed, either reality-based or fiction. The effect of perceived realism on information value may also be of importance for this study. With having the experience with a certain situation, people may gain a more critical attitude towards the media content. They know what the situation is like in real life. The media content would need to meet their higher demands, while people without experience will more easily believe what they see on screen. Perhaps people with experience also feel like there is less for them to learn about the situation than there is for people without experience. The present study suggests that adolescents with experience with

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having been bullied will perceive lower levels of realism when watching the bullying-related film clip than adolescents without experience with having been bullied. In turn, this may affect the information value they attribute to the film.
As mentioned above, Konijn et al (2009) showed that the induction of negative emotions in viewers lead participants to perceive the documentary as more realistic and holding more information than viewers who did not experience such emotions. It may be argued that when people have experience with a certain situation that arouses negative emotions, they may perceive an experience-related films as more realistic than people that have no experience and are just aroused with anticipated emotions. Regarding the different exposure conditions, adolescents that reflect on their emotions may regard the information value and perceived realism as higher than their rumination colleagues. Reflection is associated with being more likely to look for the information value of something (Luyckx et al., 2007). Adolescents in the reflection condition may be more willing to learn than adolescents in the rumination condition. Based on this, the following hypotheses were formulated related to perceived realism and information value:
H4a: Adolescents who were bullied will 1) perceive lower levels of realism and 2) attribute less information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents without experience with having been bullied.
H4b: Adolescents who are high on negative emotions will 1) perceive higher levels of realism and 2) attribute more information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents low on negative emotions.
H4c: Adolescents in the reflection film clip condition will 1) perceive higher levels of realism and 2) attribute more information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition.

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In addition to the direct influence of prior experience and emotional responsiveness on perceived realism and information value, this study will also examine whether a relationship can be found between the latter variables and enjoyment. Besides Nabi et al. (2006), various researchers also showed learning something from media can lead to the enjoyment of that media content. For example, the above mentioned vicarious learning experiences have proven to be gratifying for media users (e.g., Busselle & Bilandzic, 2009). The following hypothesis was formulated related to the relationship between enjoyment and both perceived value and information value:
H5: Both perceived value and information value will have a positive influence on enjoyment.
Eudaimonic viewing motivations
It is a small step to involving eudaimonic viewing motives when trying to provide more insight in the sad movie paradox, as this study is attempting. Emotions that may affect media use can be associated with the pursuit of pleasure (MMT; Zillmann, 1988). But emotions can also be functional within the broader context of social and cognitive gratification (Bartsch & Viehoff, 2010). People may also enjoy media because it can help them in their search for deeper insight, meaning, and purpose in life (Bartsch & Viehoff, 2010). The term to describe these kinds of motivations is “eudaimonia” (Oliver, 2008; Waterman, 1993): gaining happiness through striving to become a better person.
While both hedonism and eudaimonia were already under discussion in the Ancient Greece (Bartsch, 2010), studying eudaimonic viewing motives and emotions in addition to hedonistic motivations is one of the recent developments in Media Psychology (Oliver & Woolley, 2010). In early uses and gratification studies, individuals reported using media as a means of experiencing beauty and raising morale, in addition to using media for purposes of entertainment and relaxation

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(Katz et al., 1973). Eudaimonia is not new in connection to research on film either. Individuals’ interest in viewing films to experience strong emotions and to understand how others think and feel was also identified as a motivation for enjoying films by Tesser, Millar, and Wu (1988).
To complement Nabi et al., this study chooses to use the approach of Oliver and Raney (in press) as starting-point for gaining insight in eudaimonic media use motivations. Oliver and Raney (in press) tried to broaden the conceptualization of entertainment motivations; to identify pleasure- seeking as a motivator, but also to recognize the notion that individuals may choose media for eudaimonic reasons. They characterized eudaimonic concerns as “meaningfulness-seeking”. This may be linked to the new therapeutic insights that media may provide according to Nabi et al. But according to Oliver and Raney, the eudaimonic need for insight is broader than the fulfilment of needs focused on the self. So people may choose certain media content not just to “learn” how to handle their emotions, but to find answers to meaning-of-life questions.
Although eudaimonic motivations can explain the enjoyment of counter-hedonic media, Oliver and Raney (in press) also believe insight in issues of the meaning of life may, at times, be somewhat painful. But the viewing of a film may result in simultaneously experiencing both negative and positive affect. Similarly, Nabi et al. (2009) suggested that the confrontation with painful memories may be endured to gain the new therapeutic insights that media may provide. Viewers may be aware of the reopening of wounds that might occur when they turn to media content about something painful they have experience with. They are willing to endure it in favour of their search for deeper insight, and meaning, specifically about that painful experience.
Perhaps this reasoning also works the other way round: when confronted with media content that brings back painful memories, viewers will willingly choose to enjoy the content for eudaimonic reasons. They will try to use it in their dealing with their bullying experience. The present study will test this, assuming bullied adolescents will score higher on eudaimonic viewing motivations than adolescents without experience with having been bullied. The same will probably apply to adolescents who are more emotional when thinking about bullying.

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Thirdly, the present study will compare the different viewing conditions. Eudaimonic viewing motivations may also be more common among adolescents who reflect on their emotions than among adolescents who use rumination as coping strategy. Prior research already associated reflection with more meaningful life experiences and working on one’s identity (Trapnell & Campell, 1999). This suggestion is supported by findings of Oliver and Raney (in press), who also connected eudaimonia with more contemplative and reflective tendencies. This lead to the following, those being the final hypotheses of this study related to eudaimonic viewing motives:
H6a: Adolescents who were bullied will score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents without experience with having been bullied.
H6c: Adolescents who are high on negative emotions will score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents who are low on negative emotions.
H6c: Adolescents in the reflection film clip condition will score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition.

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METHOD
To test the hypotheses, a quasi-experiment embedded in a questionnaire was developed. Adolescents attending secondary schools the Netherlands participated in the study. Besides answering questions about their experience with having been bullied, and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, they were randomly assigned to the experimental part of the questionnaire: the exposure to two different bullying-related film clips. After the exposure to the film clip, the dependent variables of this study were measured. Further details are explained below.
Participants
For this study, three different secondary schools were visited in the north of the Netherlands. A total of 236 students participated in the experiment. The participants were between 11 and 19 years old (M = 15.12, SD = 1.85), and the majority had a Dutch cultural background (94.1%). 52.1% was female, 47.9% was male. Regarding educational level, the largest group of participants indicated to attend so-called “higher general continued education” (havo, 38.1%), followed by pre-university secondary education (vwo, 27.5%), and the so-called theoretical learning path of “preparatory middle-level vocational education” (vmbo theoretische leerweg, 20.8%). The smallest group attented a grammar school (gymnasium, 10.6%). The data collection took part in June and July 2011.
Design
Like the study by Nabi et al. (2006), this study was split up in two parts: one part testing one hypothesis prior to the bullying-related film clip exposure, and the other part for testing

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hypotheses after the exposure, it can be regarded as a mixed design study. To the first part of the study, on preference for storylines about bullying, belonged a 2 (experience with being having been bullied: yes or no) x 2 (emotional responsiveness to thinking about bullying: high or low) between-participants design. Participants were distributed among the different conditions based on their scores on the bullying questions and the questions about how emotional they were when thinking about being bullied. In the second part of the study a 2 (experience with having been bullied: yes or no) x 2 (emotional responsiveness to thinking about bullying: high or low) x 2 (bullying-related exposure: rumination or reflection) between-participants design was used. Participants were were randomly assigned to the bullying-related exposure conditions they when started the online questionnaire. The dependent variables of this part of the study were the enjoyment of a bullying-related film clip, coping through media (i.e., either coping through rumination or reflection), evaluation of the film clip with regard to perceived realism and information value, and eudaimonic motivations for watching a film.
Stimulus materials
The bullying-related exposure consisted of a 4:30-minute clip from the Dutch television film Bluebird (2004) by Mijke de Jong. This film is about Merel, a highly talented thirteen year old girl, who gets bullied at school. Since she doesn’t confide in anyone about the bullying, she has to deal with it on her own. This makes her balance on the thin line between what’s right and what’s wrong. There were several reasons why Bluebird was chosen. First of all, it was a film about bullying, appropriate for adolescents. Besides that, the film is not well known in the Netherlands; it’s theatrical release in 2005 attracted just 2 000 visitors. Although the film was broadcasted on Dutch television twice (in 2004, and in 2010 on an early Sunday morning in August), it is not likely that many students are familiar with the film, so they will not be influenced by prior knowledge about the entire film.

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Two clips were edited from segments of the film Bluebird to represent the different coping conditions, rumination and reflection. The clips contained three bullying scenes, in which Merel was (1) told she smelled, (2) beaten, and (3) found her new bike completely destroyed. These scenes were followed by some kind of response by the protagonist. The responses were different for both coping conditions. In the rumination clip, Merel responded to the bullying by crying, and scratching over all the faces of her classmates in their school photograph. In the reflection clip, Merel secludes herself from other people, and seems to be lost in her own thoughts. The variations were emphasized by an introduction in which it was explained that Merel either didn’t like to think about the bullying (the rumination condition) or actually did like to take long walks to think about her life (the reflection condition; see the whole questionnaire in the Appendix). After watching one of the film clips, participants completed several manipulation check questions about the film clip.
As a way of validating the self-reports of participants about having been bullied, a “manipulation check” using the film clip was integrated in the questionnaire. This “check” was based on Nabi et al. (2006), and investigated whether bullied participants identified more with the bullied protagonist of the film clip than participants who had no experience with bullying. It would make sense that participants who indicate they were bullied will identify more with the bullied protagonist of the film clip, which would validate the division of the participants in a group with experience with having been bullied and a group without experience. Five questions were asked based on Cohen’s (2001) identification items, and they referred to both positive and negative values (three positive, two negative). Examples of items were “I think I can understand Merel”, and “For Merel’s sake, I hope the film will have a happy ending”. The items were rated on a five-point scale of 1 (doesn’t apply to me at all) to 5 (does apply to me very well) and the scale proved to be reliable (Cronbach’s α = .72, M = 3.22, SD = .88).

23
Measures
Preference for storylines about bullying. As the researchers did in Nabi et al. (2006), media preference was operationalized by asking participants to rate storylines on a five-point scale of 1 (I don’t want to watch this at all) to 5 (I really want to watch this). The eight storylines used in this study were introduced as storylines of films. They were based on actual films or books that are popular among adolescents, for example the novel Spijt! by Carry Slee (1996), and the Dutch football film In Oranje (directed by Joram Lürsen, 2004). The actual plot descriptions were adjusted and protagonist names were changed so participants wouldn’t recognize the originals straight away, and they all had an open ending. Three out of eight were storylines about bullying; the scores on these storylines were combined into a preference variable (Cronbach’s α = .75, M = 2.63, SD = 1.02). The other five, used as a distraction, were about becoming a famous dancer, having a fatally ill mother, moving to another town, divorcing parents, and about continuing with your live after the death of a parent (Cronbach’s α = .74, M = 2.49, SD = .89). The storyline of Bluebird was not part of the eight storylines (for the eight storylines and the rest of the questionnaire, see the Appendix). Pretesting the storylines among adolescents that were not participating in the actual study showed bullying storylines were significantly preferred (M = 3.37, SD = .63) over the storylines about other topics (M = 2.94, SD = .52), t(16) = 2.39, p < .05. So when testing the influence of the independent variables on the preference for storylines about bullying, the preference for other storylines should be entered into the regression as covariate.
Enjoyment. The extent to which the participants enjoyed watching the film clip was measured on a five-point scale of 1 (doesn’t apply to me at all) to 5 (does apply to me very well). The four enjoyment items were based on the enjoyment items in Nabi at al. (2006). Two out of four questions referred to negative values. Examples of the items are “I liked the film clip”, and “I didn’t enjoy watching the film clip”. The item “To me watching the film was unpleasant” (“Ik

24
vond het onplezierig om naar het filmpje te kijken”) was deleted to improve the reliability of the scale, but the Cronbach’s alpha remained a bit low (Cronbach’s α = .64, M = 2.56, SD = .94).
Coping. To measure coping through either rumination or reflection, a shortened version of the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ; Trapnell & Campbell, 1999) was used. The RRQ was translated in Flemish by Luyckx (2007), and adjusted for Dutch participants by Den Hamer (work in progress). In the current study, the RRQ consisted of twelve items: six rumination questions and six reflections questions, both positively and negatively formulated (a total of seven positive and five negative items). Participants were asked to indicate how much the items applied to them personally on a five-point scale of 1 (doesn’t apply to me at all) to 5 (does apply to me very well). The general statements of the RRQ were adjusted to fit the watching experience. Examples of items are “This film clip makes me worry about how I behaved in a certain situation” (rumination), and “After watching the film clip, I would like to think about my life” (reflection). The rumination items were combined into a single variable for coping by rumination (Cronbach’s α = .63, M = 2.01, SD = .62), and the reflection items were combined into a single variable for coping by reflection (Cronbach’s α = .74, M = 2.57, SD = .78).
Perceived realism. The levels of realism participants perceived while watching the bullying-related film clip were measured using the perceived realism items from Konijn et al. (2009). The items were rated on a five-point scale of 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (totally agree), and adapted to fit the content of the Bluebird film clip. Examples of items are “The film clip provided me with an unrealistic image of bullying in school”, and “The story about Merel is fabricated.” Items reflected both positive and negative values (two positive and two negative), and provided a reliable variable for perceived realism (Cronbach’s α = .75, M = 3.61, SD = .86).
Information value. The information value of the clip was measured using the information value items from the study of Konijn et al. (2009). The items were rated on a five-point scale of 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (totally agree) and reliable (Cronbach’s α = .72, M = 3.66, SD = .75). Obviously, the statements were adapted to fit the content of the Bluebird film clip, for example

25
“The film makers give their viewers meaningless a picture of bullying in school”, and “The film clip didn’t teach me anything about bullying or being bullied.” Items reflected both positive and negative values, two positive and three negative.
Eudaimonic viewing motives. The eudaimonic motives for watching the film clip were measured with the eudaimonia items by Oliver & Raney (in press). The items were adjusted to fit the film clip watching experience, and rated on a five-point scale of 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (totally agree). Examples of items are “I like this film clip because it focuses on meaningful human conditions”, and “I’m very moved by this film clip, because it’s about the search for greater understanding in life”. The scale appeared to be quite reliable (Cronbach’s α = .82, M = 2.11, SD = .89) after deleting two items: “I don’t like it about this film clip that it makes me think about being bullied” (“Ik vind het niet prettig dat dit filmpje mij stil doet staan bij gepest worden”) and “I don’t like film clips like this, that make me reflect on things” (“Ik heb helemaal niets met een filmpje als dit, dat mij aan het denken zet”).
Experience with having been bullied. Bullying experience was operationalized through peer victimization, victimization by classmates to be precisely. Participants were asked to rate the seven items of the peer victimization scale (VIC) by Schwartz, Farber, Chang, and Lee-Shim (2002) on a five-point scale of 1 (never) to 5 (daily). Examples of items are “How often do your classmates hit or kick you?”, and “How often do your classmates ignore you?” After the items, there was the opportunity to respond to the previous items, in case people would really want to get something off their chest. This open ended question was not compulsory. As a scale for experience with having been bullied, the VIC was very reliable (Cronbach’s α = .89, M = 1.54, SD = .65). To be able to talk about participants with out without experience with having been bullied, a median split (Mdn = 1.29) was conducted to divide the variable in two equal groups, representing “bullied” and “not bullied”.
Emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying. Emotional responsiveness was operationalized following Nabi et al. (2006). The emotions that had to be rated on a scale of 1

26
(doesn’t apply to me at all) to 5 (does apply to me very well) were angry, out of energy, fearful, and sad. All items were negatively valenced, and rated by all participants (both with and without experience with having been bullied, measuring anticipated emotions among the non-bullied participants). For this study, the items were adapted to match bullying: “When I think about being bullied myself, it makes me feel…”. After these items participants were given the opportunity to respond to the previous items, again in case people would really want to get something off their chest. This open ended question was not compulsory. The scale conducted with the emotion item was very reliable, (Cronbach’s α = .84, M = 2.03, SD = 1.00). At the very end of the questionnaire the same emotion questions were asked again, also resulting in a reliable scale (Cronbach’s α = .86, M = 2.20, SD = 1.09). To be able to talk about participants high or low on negative emotions, a median split (Mdn = 1.75) was conducted to divide the variable in two equal groups, representing “high on negative emotions” and “low on negative emotions”.
Procedure
Upon arriving at a school, the participants were invited in the computer classrooms, where the questionnaire was available via a link to the Examine website (Roelofsma, Bottema, & Smeets, 2005). Prior to starting the questionnaire, a teacher introduced the researcher, and she herself introduced the study as a study about adolescents and sad media. With starting the questionnaire, the participants were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental exposure conditions. After a short introduction and some notifications, participants started with demographic questions, and some for this study irrelevant questions about their TV viewing habits. These questions were asked first, since it seemed a bit confrontational to start off with asking participants about ever being bullied. The peer victimization questionnaire was next, followed by the items on how one felt when thinking about being bullied. Then, a list of eight storylines was presented, which participants were asked to rate in terms of how interested they were in watching

27
each. After completing this, participants watched the film clip, either the rumination or the reflection version of it, followed by some questions testing whether they actually paid attention to the clip. Next, they were asked to indicate how much the film clip inspired them to either ruminate their emotions or reflect to reflect on them. Then they had to provide how realistic and informative they found the film clip, and how much they enjoyed the clip, both in general and on an eudaimonic level. The questionnaire ended with repeating the questions on how they felt when thinking about being bullied. In the final screen of the questionnaire, the respondents were thanked for their participation. Overall, the session lasted about fifteen minutes.

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RESULTS
As described above, this study focuses on the effects of experience with having been bullied among adolescents, the level of emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and watching either the rumination or the reflection version of a bullying-related film clip. Hypotheses were formulated in terms of the influences on preference for bullying storylines, enjoyment, coping, information value, perceived realism, and eudaimonic viewing motives. Several hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.
Preliminary analyses
Prior to conducting the analyses to test the hypotheses, some preliminary analyses were conducted. To check whether the “manipulation” of experience with having been bullied worked, a “manipulation check” analysis was conducted. The results were tested with an analysis of variance (ANCOVA) with experience with having been bullied as independent variable, and identification with the protagonist of the film clip as dependent variable. The results showed that participants who had experience with bullying identified marginally significantly more with the protagonist in the film clip (M = 3.35, SD = .88) than participants were not bullied in the past (M = 3.12, SD = .86), F(1,234) = 3.87, p = .05. These results support the reasonable validity of the self-report measure of experience with having been bullied.
To check for relationships between the dependent and the independent variables in this study, a correlation analysis was run. The analysis concerned all variables that would be used to test the hypotheses and research question: the independent variables experience with having been bullied, and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the dependent variables preference for watching films about bullying, enjoyment, coping through both rumination and reflection, perceived realism, information value, and eudaimonic viewing motives. To check the

29
relation between the two types of storylines, the preference for watching other storylines was also added to the analysis.
Table 1 – Means, and standard deviations of, and correlations
between all variables relating to H1-6 and the RQ
M
SD
BE
ER
BSP
OSP
EN
RUM
REFL
PR
IV
EU
bullying experience (PE)
1.54
.65
1
emotional responsiveness (ER)
2.03
1.00
.36**
1
bullying storyline preference (BSP)
2.63
1.02
.25**
.27**
1
other storyline preference (OSP)
2.49
.89
.09
.24**
.73**
1
enjoyment (EN)
2.56
.94
.12^
.23**
.42**
.36**
1
coping through rumination (RUM)
2.01
.62
.32**
.31**
.32**
.33**
.35**
1
coping through reflection (REFL)
2.57
.78
.17**
.32**
.43**
.43**
.48**
.61**
1
perceived realism (PR)
3.61
.86
.12^
.22**
.18**
.12^
.34**
.26**
.30**
1
information value (IV)
3.66
.75
.06
.19**
.21**
.14*
.31**
.27**
.38**
.69**
1
eudaimonic viewing motives (EU)
2.44
.80
.32**
.45**
.50**
.41**
.51**
.45**
.55**
.32**
.31**
1
Note. ^ p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01
In the correlation analysis most of the correlations were significant (see Table 1), indicating there are relationships between the variables that can be tested. Five correlations were just marginally significant, or not significant at all, three of which are of relevance to the hypotheses testing in this study. The correlations between experience with having been bullied and both enjoyment (r = .12, p < .10), and perceived realism (r = .12, p < .10) were only marginally significant, and the correlation between bullying experience and information value (r = .06, p = .33) was not significant at all. This may affect the testing of H2 and H4; especially the testing of H4, since the non-significant correlation between experience with having been bullied and information value might indicate there is no relation between these variables at all.
Besides that, there was also a significant correlation that may affect the testing of the hypothesis: the correlation between the two types of storylines in the questionnaire (r = .73, p < .01). This high correlation may suggest there was not too much difference between participants’ preference to watch films about either bullying or other topics, which may have consequences for

30
the testing of H1. Using a repeated measures t-test, participants’ preference for bullying-related storylines was compared to their preference for other storylines. Participants were significantly more interested in storylines about bullying (M = 2.63, SD = 1.02) than in storylines about other topics (M = 2.49, SD = .89), t(235) = 2.90, p < .01. Since the pretest also showed participants significantly preferred the bullying storylines, preference for other storylines was entered into the regression that was used for testing H1, to control for the influence of this variable.
As final part of the preliminary analyses, the hierarchical regressions that were going to be conducted were run including the demographic variables age, gender, and education as covariates. The results of the regression analyses showed that the covariate age and education had to be excluded when testing the influences on bullying storyline preference, coping through reflection, information value, perceived realism, and eudaimonic viewing motives. The influences of these covariates were not significant (see the results of the concerning regressions below for the values of the excluded covariates). The results were different regarding the analyses with enjoyment and coping through rumination as dependent variables. The covariate education was not included in the regression testing the influence on enjoyment, t(236) = .54, p = .59, b(SEb) = .05 (.08),  = .04, and the covariate age was not included in the regression testing the influence on rumination, t(236) = -.09, p = .93, b(SEb) = -.002 (.02),  = -.01. Based on these results, it makes sense to enter the covariate gender into all the regressions. Besides that, the covariate age will be entered into the regression with enjoyment as dependent variable, and the covariate education will be entered into the regression with rumination as dependent variable.
To summarize this section, a few things can be concluded from the preliminary analyses. First of all, the “manipulation” of experience with having been bullied was not that successful, which means conclusions regarding the influence of prior experience should be drawn carefully. Besides that, the preliminary analyses showed that the preference for other storylines should be taken into consideration when testing the hypothesis about the preference for bullying storylines.

31
Finally, the results showed the importance of including gender in the testing of all the hypotheses. The testing of hypotheses will be next.
Testing H1: media preference
To test H1, a hierarchical regression was conducted with preference for bullying storylines as dependent variable, with gender and preference for other storylines in Block 1, experience with being bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying in Block 2, and the interaction-effect between experience and emotions in Block 3. The covariates age, t(236) = - 1.67, p = .10, b(SEb) = -.04 (.03),  = -.08, and education, t(236) = -.40, p = .69, b(SEb) = -.03 (.07),  = -.02, were not included, because those influences were not significant.
Table 2 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Block 2 and 3) of the influences
on preference for bullying storylines
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

gender
1.66
.10
.16 (.10)
.08
preference other storylines
15.45
.00
.78 (.05)
.68
bullying experience
3.67
.00
.27 (.07)
.17
emotional responsiveness
.45
.66
.02 (.05)
.02
gender
1.62
.11
.15 (.10)
.08
preference other storylines
14.58
.00
.78 (.05)
.68
bullying experience
3.31
.00
.48 (.15)
.31
1.70
.09
.16 (.10)
.16
experience X emotions
-1.71
.09
-.08 (.05)
-.24
Note. R² Block 2 = .75, R² Block 3 = .76
H1a stated that adolescents who were bullied would be more interested in watching bullying- related films than those without experience with being bullied. The results of the regression showed there was a significant influence from experience with having been bullied on preference

32
for storylines about bullying, t(236) = 3.67, p < .01, b(SEb) = .27 (.07),  = .17 (see Table 2). Participants who were bullied were more interested in watching bullying-related films (M = 2.77, SD = .96) than those without experience with being bullied (M = 2.51, SD = 1.06). Thus, H1a was confirmed: participants who were bullied were more interested in watching bullying-related films than those without experience with being bullied.
H1b stated that emotional responsiveness would interact with experience with having been bullied, such that the effect of H1a would be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions. The results showed no significant main influence of emotional responsiveness, t(236) = .475, p = .66, b(SEb) = .02 (.05),  = .02. But when controlling for the interaction between experience and emotions, this effect was marginally significant, t(236) = 1.70, p < .10, b(SEb) = .16 (.10),  = .16. Participants high on negative emotions were slightly more interested in bullying storylines (M = 2.79, SD = .96) than participants low on negative emotions (M = 2.43, SD = 1.06). The interaction between experience and emotions was just marginally significant as well, t(236) = -1.71, p < .10, b(SEb) = -.08 (.05),  = -.24. Participants that were bullied and low on negative emotions were more interested in storylines about bullying (M = 2.54, SD = 1.08) than participants who were also low on negative emotions, but had no experience with bullying (M = 2.37, SD = 1.04). Among participants high on negative emotions, participants who were bullied were also more interested in storylines about bullying (M = 2.91, SD = .86) than participants who had no experience with bullying (M = 2.67, SD = 1.05; see Figure 1). Thus, H1b was confirmed: there was an interaction between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness, causing the effect as claimed in H1a to be slightly larger among participants high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions.

33
Figure 1 – Influence of the interaction between experience with having been bullied and
emotional responsiveness on preference for bullying storylines
Testing H2: enjoyment
To test H2, a hierarchical regression was conducted with enjoyment as dependent variable, the covariates age and gender was entered in Block 1, experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the exposure conditions in Block 2, the interaction-effect between the independent variables in Block 3, and the three-way interaction in Block 4. The covariate education was not included, because its influence was not significant, t(236) = .54, p = .59, b(SEb) = .05 (.08),  = .04.
H2a stated that adolescents who were bullied would enjoy watching a bullying-related film clip more than those without experience with being bullied. The results showed a non-significant main influence of experience with having been bullied, t(236) = 1.15, p = .25, b(SEb) = .11 (.10),  = .08 (see Table 3). Thus, H2a was rejected: there was no difference between participants with and without experience regarding their enjoyment of the bullying-related film clip.

34
Table 3 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Bock 2 and 3) of the influences on enjoyment
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

age
2.96
.00
.09 (.03)
.19
gender
4.45
.00
.53 (.12)
.28
bullying experience
1.15
.25
.11 (.10)
.08
2.00
.05
.13 (.06)
.13
exposure condition
1.36
.18
.16 (.11)
.08
age
4.50
.00
.53 (.12)
.29
gender
3.01
.00
.10 (.03)
.19
bullying experience
.98
.33
.20 (.20)
.14
1.68
.09
.25 (.15)
.27
exposure condition
-1.30
.20
-.42 (.33)
-.23
-1.34
.18
-.08 (.06)
-.27
experience X exposure
1.75
.08
.33 (.19)
.31
emotions X exposure
.26
.80
.03 (.12)
.04
H2b stated that emotional responsiveness would interact with bullying experience, such that the effect of H2a would be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions. The results showed a marginally significant main influence emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying on enjoyment, t(236) = 2.00, p < .10, b(SEb) = .13 (.06),  = .13. Participants who were high on negative emotions enjoyed the film clip more (M = 2.70, SD = .91) than participants low on emotions (M = 2.38, SD = .94). In the interaction model, there was even more influence of emotional responsiveness, t(236) = 1.68, p < .10, b(SEb) = .25 (.15),  = .27. But the model that included the interactions did not explain more of the variability in enjoyment than the model without the interactions, R² = .41, R² = .02, Fchange (3,227) = 1.84, p = .14. This was reflected in the non-significant interaction between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness, t(236) = -1.34, p = .18, b(SEb) = -.08 (.06),  = -.27. Thus, H2b was rejected: emotional responsiveness did not interact with experience with having

35
been bullied, although participants were high on negative emotions enjoyed the film clip more than participants that were low on negative emotions.
Testing H3: coping with emotions
To complement Nabi et al. (2006), a measure for coping was introduced in the current study. But prior to testing the hypotheses connected to this, the emotional responsiveness of the participants when thinking about bullying prior to watching the bullying-related film clip were compared to their emotional responsiveness after watching the clip, like Nabi et al. did to measure coping. A repeated measures analyses of variance (GLM Repeated Measures) was conducted with emotional responsive prior to and after watching as the within-subject factors, and experience with having been bullied as the between-subjects factor. The results of the analysis showed that participants that were bullied were significantly more emotional after watching (M = 2.42, SD = 1.11) than prior to watching (M = 2.28, SD = 1.09), F(1,234) = 15.36, p < .01. They were also significantly more emotional than the participants without experience with bullying, F(1,234) = 11.25, p < .01, who in turn were also more emotional after watching (M = 2.03, SD = 1.04) than prior to watching (M = 1.83, SD = .87). These results would suggest the bullying-related film clip did not help participants cope with their emotions, but made them more emotional.
Next, the hypotheses about coping through either rumination or reflection were tested using the measured coping data. Two hierarchical regressions were conducted, one with coping through rumination as dependent variable, the other with coping through reflection as dependent variable. In both regressions, the covariate gender was entered in Block 1, experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the exposure conditions in Block 2, the interaction-effect between the independent variables in Block 3, and the three-way interaction in Block 4. In the regression with rumination as dependent variable the covariate age was not included, because its influence was not significant t(236) = -.09, p = .93,

36
b(SEb) = -.002 (.02),  = -.01, while both the covariates age, t(236) = 1.10, p = .27, b(SEb) = .03 (.03),  = .07, and education, t(236) = .24, p = 81, b(SEb) = .02 (.07),  = .02, were not included in the regression with reflection as dependent variable.
Table 4 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Block 2 and 3)
of the influences on rumination, and on reflection
Rumination
Reflection
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

t
p
b(SEb)

gender
1.76
.08
.14 (.08)
.11
4.40
.00
.42 (.10)
.27
education
-2.72
.01
-.14 (.05)
-.17
-
-
-
-
bullying experience
3.55
.00
.22 (.06)
.23
.83
.41
.06 (.08)
.05
3.54
.00
.15 (.04)
.24
3.60
.00
.18 (.05)
.24
exposure condition
.18
.86
.01 (.07)
.01
-1.36
.18
-.13 (.09)
-.08
gender
1.77
.08
.14 (.08)
.11
4.37
.00
.42 (.10)
.27
education
-2.51
.01
-.13 (.05)
-.15
-
-
-
-
bullying experience
-.34
.73
-.04 (.13)
-.05
.70
.49
.11 (.16)
.09
-.59
.56
-.06 (.10)
-.09
1.37
.17
.17 (.12)
.22
exposure condition
-1.17
.24
-.25 (.21)
-.20
-1.25
.21
-.33 (.27)
-.22
2.23
.03
.09 (.04)
.43
-.38
.71
-.02 (.05)
-.07
.52
.60
.07 (12)
.09
.10
.92
.02 (.16)
.02
emotions X exposure
1.03
.31
.08 (.08)
.17
.89
.37
.09 (.10)
.15
Note. Rumination: R² Block 2 = .43, R² Block 3 = .46
Reflection: R² Block 2 = .43, R² Block 3 = .43
H3a stated that adolescents that were bullied would score higher on coping with emotions than adolescents without experience with bullying. The results of the regression with rumination as dependent variable showed a significant influence of experience with having been bullied on rumination, t(236) = 3.55, p < .01, b(SEb) = .22 (.06),  = .23 (see Table 4). Participants with experience with bullying scored higher on coping by ruminating their emotions (M = 2.14, SD = .67) than participants without experience with bullying (M = 1.91, SD = .56). But the results of the regression with reflection as dependent variable showed no significant influence of

37
experience with having been bullied on reflection, t(236) = .83, p = .41, b(SEb) = .06 (.08),  = .05. Thus, H3a was confirmed for the coping strategy rumination, but rejected for the coping strategy reflection: participants who were bullied scored higher on coping through rumination than participants without experience with bullying, but as high on coping through reflection.
H3b stated that emotional responsiveness would interact with bullying experience, such that the effect of H3a would be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions. First, the results of the regression with rumination as dependent variable showed a significant main influence of experience with having been bullied on rumination, t(236) = 3.54, p < .01, b(SEb) = .15 (.04),  = .24. Participants who were high on negative emotions scored significantly higher on coping by ruminating their emotions (M = 2.12, SD = .65) than participants who were low on negative emotions (M = 1.87, SD = .55). The results of the regression with reflection as dependent variable also showed a significant main influence of experience with having been bullied on reflection, t(236) = 3.60, p < .01, b(SEb) = .18 (.05),  = .24. Participants who were high on negative emotions scored higher on coping by reflection on their emotions (M = 2.73, SD = .74) than participants who were low on negative emotions (M = 2.37, SD = .78).
But H3b was not about the main effect of emotional responsiveness, but claimed there would be an interaction with prior experience. Including the interaction variables into the regression explained more of the variability in coping for rumination, R² = .46, R² = .02, Fchange (3,227) = 2.26, p < .10, but not for reflection, R² = .43, R² = .004, Fchange (3,228) = .41, p = .75. The latter was reflected by the non-significant influence of the interaction experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness on reflection, t(236) = -.38, p = .71, b(SEb) = -.02 (.05),  = -.07. But the interaction had a significant influence on rumination, t(236) = 2.23, p < .05, b(SEb) = .09 (.04),  = .43. Participants that were bullied and low on negative emotions scored higher on coping through ruminating their emotions (M = 2.02, SD = .55) than participants

38
who were also low on negative emotions, but had no experience with bullying (M = 1.79, SD = .53). Among participants high on negative emotions, participants who were bullied also scored higher on rumination (M = 2.21, SD = .73) than participants who had no experience with bullying (M = 2.03, SD = .56; see Figure 2).
Figure 2 – Influence of the interaction between experience with having been bullied
and emotional responsiveness on coping through rumination
Thus, H3b was confirmed for the coping strategy rumination: there was an interaction between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness, although the effect did not seem to be larger among those high on negative emotions than among those low on negative emotions as the hypothesis claimed. Regarding the coping strategy reflection, H3b was rejected: emotional responsiveness did not interact with experience with having been bullied, although participants who were high on negative emotions scored higher on coping by reflection on their emotions than participants low on negative emotions.
Analyzing the RQ: coping and enjoyment
Regarding the connection between enjoyment and the coping strategies rumination and reflection, a research question was formulated. This was investigated by adding both coping strategies to the

39
hierarchical regression that was conducted previously to test H2. With age and gender already in Block 1, and experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying in Block 2, the different coping strategies rumination and reflection were entered in Block 3.
Table 5 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Block 3)
of the effect of coping through rumination and reflection on enjoyment
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

age
2.53
.01
.07 (.03)
.15
gender
2.70
.01
.31 (.12)
.17
bullying experience
.45
.65
.04 (.09)
.03
68
.50
.04 (.06)
.04
rumination
.94
.35
.11 (11)
.07
reflection
4.78
.00
.44 (.09)
.36
Note. R² Block 3 = .53
The model with the separate coping strategies was significant, F(6,229) = 14.67, p < .01, and explained significantly more of the variability in enjoyment than the model without any coping variables, R² = .53, R² = .14, Fchange (2,229) = 21.35, p < .01. But only more reflection on one’s emotions tended to be positively related to enjoyment, t(236) = 4.78, p < .01, b(SEb) = .44 (.09),  = .36 (see Table 5). Rumination had no significant influence on enjoyment, t(236) = .94, p = .28, b(SEb) = .11 (.11),  = .07. Thus, to formulate an answer on the research question, the coping strategy reflection was positively related to enjoyment, but there was no influence of rumination on enjoyment.

40
Testing H4: perceived realism and information value
The next hypotheses were about the effect of experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the different exposure conditions on perceived realism and information value. Two hierarchical regressions were conducted: one with perceived realism as dependent variable, the other with information value as dependent variable. Gender was entered in Block 1, experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the exposure conditions in Block 2, the interaction-effect between the independent variables in Block 3, and the three-way interaction in Block 4. In the regression with perceived realism as dependent variable the covariates age, t(236) = -1.06, p = .29, b(SEb) = -.03 (.03),  = -.07, and education, t(236) = .67, p = .50, b(SEb) = .05 (.08),  = .05, were not included, because those influences were not significant. The same went for the regression with information value as dependent variable, since age, t(236) = -.79, p = .43, b(SEb) = -.02 (.03),  = -.05, and education, t(236) = .75, p = .46, b(SEb) = .05 (.07),  = .05, were no significant influences in this regression as well.
H4a stated that adolescents who were bullied would 1) perceive lower levels of realism and 2) attribute less information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents without experience with having been bullied. The results of the regressions showed no significant influence of experience with having been bullied; neither on perceived realism, t(236) = .71, p = .48, b(SEb) = .06 (.09),  = .05 (see Table 6), nor on information value, t(236) = -.20, p = .84, b(SEb) = -.02 (.08),  = -.01. Thus, H4a was rejected: bullied participants perceived the same levels of realism and attributed as much information value to the film clip were as participants without experience with bullying.

41
Table 6 – Hierarchical regression analyses (Block 2, 3, and 4) of the influences
on perceived realism, and on information value
Perceived realism
Information value
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

t
p
b(SEb)

gender
3.57
.00
.39 (.11)
.23
4.12
.00
.39 (.10)
.26
experience
.71
.48
.06 (.09)
.05
-.20
.84
-.02 (.08)
-.01
emotions
2.12
.04
.12 (.06)
.14
1.93
.06
.10 (.05)
.13
exposure
2.52
.01
.27 (.11)
.16
1.36
.18
.13 (.10)
.09
gender
3.57
.00
.39 (.11)
.23
4.03
.00
.39 (.10)
.26
experience
.58
.56
.11 (.19)
.08
-.78
.44
-.13 (.16)
-.11
emotions
1.67
.10
.24 (.14)
.27
.92
.36
.11 (.12)
.15
exposure
1.39
.17
.43 (.31)
.25
.19
.85
.05 (.27)
.03
-.47
.64
-.03 (.06)
-.10
.31
.76
.02 (.05)
.06
.27
.79
.05 (.18)
.05
.98
.33
.15 (.16)
.18
emotions X emotions
-1.00
.32
-.12 (.12)
-.17
-.77
.44
-.08 (.10)
-.13
gender
3.73
.00
.41 (.11)
.24
4.26
.00
.41 (.10)
.27
experience
-.53
.60
-.12 (.23)
-.09
-1.93
.05
-.38 (.10)
-.33
emotions
.35
.73
.06 (.17)
.07
-.56
.57
-.08 (.15)
-.11
exposure
-.79
.43
-.47 (.60)
-.27
-1.84
.-7
-.96 (.52)
-.64
.82
.42
.06 (.08)
.22
1.74
.08
.12 (.07)
.48
1.65
.10
.60 (.37)
.61
2.44
.02
.78 (.32)
.91
emotions X emotions
1.02
.31
.24 (.24)
.35
1.57
.12
.32 (.20)
.54
experience X emotions X exposure
-1.74
.08
-.20 (.12)
-.62
-2.25
.03
-.23 (.10)
-.81
Note. Perceived realism: R² Block 2 = .12, R² Block 3 = .12, R² Block 4 = .14
Information value: R² Block 2 = .11, R² Block 3 = .11, R² Block 4 = .13
H4b stated that adolescents who were high on negative emotions would 1) perceive higher levels of realism and 2) attribute more information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents low on negative emotions. The results of the regression with perceived realism as dependent variable showed a significant main influence of emotional responsiveness, t(236) = 2.12, p < .05, b(SEb) = .12 (.06),  = .14. Participants who were high on negative emotions perceived higher levels of realism (M = 3.70, SD = .75) than adolescents low on negative

42
emotions (M = 3.49, SD = .97). The results of the regression with information value as dependent variable showed a marginally significant main influence of emotional responsiveness, t(236) = 1.93, p < .10, b(SEb) = .10 (.05),  = .13. Participants who were high on negative emotions attributed more information value to the film clip (M = 3.73, SD = .67) than adolescents low on negative emotions (M = 3.57, SD = .82). Thus, H4b was confirmed: participants who were high on negative emotions perceived higher levels of realism and attributed more information value to the bullying-related film clip than participants low on negative emotions.
H4c stated that adolescents in the reflection film clip condition would 1) perceive higher levels of realism and 2) attribute more information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition. The results of the regression with perceived realism as dependent variable showed a significant main influence of emotional responsiveness, t(236) = 2.52, p < .05, b(SEb) = .27 (.11),  = .16. Participants in the reflection condition perceived higher levels of realism (M = 3.73, SD = .86) than participants in the rumination condition (M = 3.48, SD = .85). But there was no significant influence of the exposure condition on information value, t(236) = 1.36, p = .18, b(SEb) = .13 (.09),  = .09. Thus, H4c was confirmed for perceived realism, but rejected for information value: participants in the reflection film clip condition perceived the bullying-related film clip as being more realistic than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition, but in both conditions the participants attributed as much information value to the clip.

43
Figure 3 – Influence of the three-way interaction between experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness and the exposure conditions on perceived realism, and on information value
Although there were no significant two-way interactions (see Table 6), taken together experience between having been bullied, emotional responsiveness, and the exposure conditions significantly affected perceived realism, t(236) = -1.74, p < .10, b(SEb) = -.20 (.12),  = -.62, and information value, t(236) = -2.25, p < .05, b(SEb) = -.23 (.10),  = -.81, as three-way interaction. The participants, perceived higher levels of realism and attributed more information value to the film clip higher when they were in the reflection film clip condition than those in the rumination film clip condition, whether they were with or without experience with having been bullied, either high or low on negative emotions (see Figure 3, and Table 7). Thus, there was a three-way interaction between experience between having been bullied, emotional responsiveness, and the exposure conditions: participants perceived higher levels of realism and attributed more information value to the bullying-related film clip in the reflection condition than in the rumination film condition.

44
Table 7 – Means and standard deviations for the influence of the three-way interaction between experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness and the exposure conditions on perceived realism, and on information value
Perceived realism
Information
value
M
SD
M
SD
Not bullied
Low on emotions
Rumination clip
3.27
.98
3.50
.93
Reflection clip
3.61
.97
3.57
.87
High on emotions
Rumination clip
3.52
.71
3.71
.50
Reflection clip
3.76
.79
3.91
.75
Bullied
Low on emotions
Rumination clip
3.38
.99
3.54
.75
Reflection clip
3.74
.94
3.72
.63
High on emotions
Rumination clip
3.71
.73
3.64
.71
Reflection clip
3.83
.78
3.70
.72
Testing H5: perceived realism, information value, and enjoyment
Regarding the connection between enjoyment and both perceived realism and information value, a hypothesis was formulated. H5 stated that both perceived value and information value would have a positive relation with enjoyment. These relations were investigated by adding perceived realism and information value to the hierarchical regression that was conducted previously to test H2, and the research question testing the effect of coping on enjoyment. With age and gender already in Block 1, experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying in Block 2, and the coping strategies rumination and reflection in Block 3, information value was entered in Block 4, and perceived realism in Block 5. Information value was entered into the regression analysis prior to perceived realism to be able to see whether perceived realism mediated the effect of information value on enjoyment.

45
Table 8 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Block 4 and 5)
of the influences of information value and perceived realism on enjoyment
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

age
2.79
.01
.08 (.03)
.16
gender
2.33
.12
.27 (.12)
.14
bullying experience
.61
.54
.06 (.09)
.04
.54
.59
.03 (.06)
.03
rumination
.80
.43
.09 (.11)
.06
reflection
4.23
.00
.39 (.09)
.32
information value
2.28
.02
.18 (.08)
.14
age
2.95
.00
.09 (.03)
.17
gender
2.20
.03
.25 (.11)
.13
bullying experience
.52
.60
.05 (.09)
.03
.36
.72
.02 (.06)
.02
rumination
.63
.53
.07 (.11)
.05
reflection
4.33
.00
.40 (.09)
.33
information value
.19
.85
.02 (.10)
.02
perceived realism
2.55
.01
.21 (.08)
.20
The model to which information value was added was significant, F(7,228) = 13.54, p < .01, and had a significantly higher explained variance than the model with age, gender, experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness, and the coping strategies, R² = .54, R² = .02, Fchange (1,228) = 5.18, p < .05. Higher levels of information value tended to be positively related to enjoyment, t(236) = 2.28, p < .05, b(SEb) = .18 (.08),  = .14 (see Table 8). Entering perceived realism also produced a significant model, F(7,228) = 12.94, p < .01, again explaining significantly more of the variability in enjoyment than the previous model, R² = .56, R² = .02, Fchange (1,227) = 6.48, p < .05. But while higher levels of perceived realism were positively

46
related to enjoyment, t(236) = 2.55, p < .05, b(SEb) = .21 (.08),  = .20, the effect of information value on enjoyment was no longer significant, t(236) = .19, p = .85, b(SEb) = .02 (.10),  = .02. Thus, H5 was confirmed: both information value and perceived realism were positively related to enjoyment, but perceived realism mediated the effect of information value. When taking into account perceived realism, information value had no direct influence on enjoyment anymore, but only indirectly through perceived realism.
Testing H6: eudaimonic viewing motives
The final hypotheses were about eudaimonic viewing motivations. A hierarchical regression was conducted with eudaimonic viewing motives as dependent variable, with gender in Block 1, experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the exposure conditions in Block 2, the interaction-effect between the independent variables in Block 3, and the three-way interaction in Block 4. The covariates age, t t(236) = .98, p = .33, b(SEb) = .03 (.03),  = .07, and education, t(236) = 1.13, p = .26, b(SEb) = -.08 (.07),  = .08, were not included, because those influences were not significant.
H6a stated that adolescents who were bullied would score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents without experience with bullying. The results showed a significant influence of experience with having been bullied, t(236) = 2.90, p < .01, b(SEb) = .22 (.07),  = .17 (see Table 9). Participants with experience with bullying scored higher on eudaimonic motives for enjoying the film clip (M = 2.28, SD = .96) than participants without experience with bullying (M = 1.97, SD = .82). Thus, H6a was confirmed: bullied participants scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than participants without experience with bullying.

47
Table 9 – Hierarchical regression analysis (Block 2, 3, and 4) of the influences
on eudaimonic viewing motives
variable
t
p
b(SEb)

gender
3.82
.00
.36 (.10)
.22
experience
2.90
.00
.22 (.07)
.17
emotions
5.29
.00
.26 (.05)
.33
exposure
.46
.65
.04 (.09)
.03
gender
3.84
.00
.36 (.09)
.22
experience
.24
.82
.04 (.16)
.03
emotions
.72
.47
.09 (.12)
.11
exposure
-1.02
.31
-.27 (.26)
.24
1.28
.20
.06 (.05)
.24
.27
.79
.04 (.15)
.04
emotions X emotions
1.25
.21
.12 (.10)
.19
gender
4.02
.00
.37 (.09)
.23
experience
-.92
.36
-.18 (.19)
-.14
emotions
-.54
.59
-.08 (.15)
-.10
exposure
-2.19
.03
-1.11 (.51)
-.69
2.25
.03
.15 (.07)
.56
1.82
.07
.56 (.31)
.61
emotions X emotions
2.30
.02
.46 (.20)
.72
experience X emotions X exposure
-1.94
.05
-.19 (.10)
-.63
Note. R² Block 2 = .27, R² Block 3 = .28, R² Block 4 = .30
H6b stated that adolescents who were high on negative emotions would score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents who were low on negative emotions. The results showed a significant influence of emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying on, t(236) = 5.29, p < .01, b(SEb) = .26 (.05),  = .33. Participants who were high on negative emotions scored significantly higher on eudaimonic viewing motives (M = 2.33, SD = .93) than participants who were low on negative emotions (M = 1.83, SD = .76). Thus, H6b was confirmed: participants

48
who were high on negative emotions scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than participants who were low on negative emotions.
H6c stated that adolescents in the reflection film clip condition would score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition. The results showed no significant influence of the exposure conditions, t(236) = .46, p = .65, b(SEb) = .04 (.09),  = .03. Thus, H6c was rejected: participants in both conditions scored equally high on eudaimonic viewing conditions.
Besides the main influences of experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the exposure conditions, interactions between these variables were also entered into the regressions. Although entering the two-way interactions into the regession did not explain more of the variability in eudaimonic viewing motives, explained variance did not improve, R² = .28, R² = .01, Fchange (3,228) = 1.19, p = .31. entering the three- way interaction into the model did, R² = .30, R² = .01, Fchange (1,227) = 3.76, p < .10. The three- way interaction between experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, and the different exposure conditions had a significant influence on eudaimonic viewing motives, t(236) = -1.94, p < .10, b(SEb) = -.19 (.10),  = -.63.
Table 10 – Means and standard deviations for the influence of the three-way interaction on eudaimonic viewing motives
M
SD
Not bullied
Low on emotions
Rumination clip
1.88
.69
Reflection clip
1.64
.66
High on emotions
Rumination clip
2.12
.87
Reflection clip
2.32
.92
Bullied
Low on emotions
Rumination clip
1.80
.87
Reflection clip
2.18
.89
High on emotions
Rumination clip
2.42
.95
Reflection clip
2.47
.98

49
Participants low on negative emotions that were not bullied scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives in the rumination condition (M = 1.88, SD = .69; see also Table 10) than in the reflection condition (M = 1.64, SD = .66), while bullied participants low on negative emotions scored higher eudaimonic viewing motives in the reflection condition (M = 2.18, SD = .89) than in the rumination condition (M = 1.80, SD = .87). Comparing the participants high on negative emotions, showed that participants that had no experience with bullying scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives in the reflection condition (M = 2.32, SD = .92) than in the rumination condition (M = 2.12, SD = .87), and bullied participants scored slightly higher on coping in the reflection condition (M = 2.47, SD = .98) than in the rumination condition (M = 2.42, SD = .95; see also Figure 4).
Figure 4 – Influence of the three-way interaction between experience with having been bullied, emotional responsiveness and the exposure conditions on eudaimonic viewing motives
Thus, taken together, experience between having been bullied, emotional responsiveness, and the exposure conditions had a negative relationship with eudaimonic viewing motives: while participants with experience with bullying who were low on negative emotions scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives in the rumination condition than in the reflection condition, all the other participants scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives in the reflection condition than in the rumination condition.

50
Summarizing the results
Since the results of the testing of a lot hypotheses were discussed in this chapter, an overview of the results is presented below (see Table 11).
Table 11 – Overview of the hypotheses tested in this study
H1a
Bullied adolescents were more interested in bullying-related films than non-bullied adolescents.
H1b
An interaction was found between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, influencing preference of bullying-related films.
H2a
Bullied adolescents did not enjoy the bullying-related film clip more than non-bullied adolescents.
H2b
No interaction was found between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, influencing the enjoyment of the bullying-related film clip.
H3a
Bullied adolescents scored higher on coping through rumination than non-bullied adolescents, but as high on coping through reflection.
H3b
An interaction was found between experience with having been bullied and emotional responsiveness when thinking about bullying, influencing coping through rumination. No interaction was found influencing coping through reflection.
RQ
Coping through reflection had a positive influence on enjoyment, but coping through rumination had no influence on enjoyment.
H4a
Bullied adolescents 1) did not perceive lower levels of realism and 2) did not attribute less information value to the than non-bullied adolescents.
H4b
Adolescents high on negative emotions 1) perceived higher levels of realism and 2) attributed more information value to the bullying related film clip than adolescents low on negative emotions.
H4c
Adolescents in the reflection film clip condition 1) perceived higher levels of realism, but 2)did not attribute more information value to the bullying-related film clip than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition.
Results showed a three-way interaction that significantly influenced perceived realism and information value.
H5
Both perceived value and information value had a positive influence on enjoyment. with perceived realism mediating the influence of information value.
H6a
Bullied adolescents scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than non-bullied adolescents.
H6b
Adolescents high on negative emotions scored higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents low on negative emotions.
H6c
Adolescents in the reflection film clip condition did not score higher on eudaimonic viewing motives than adolescents in the rumination film clip condition.
Results showed a three-way interaction that significantly influenced eudaimonic viewing motives.

51
CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
The present study focused on the effects of experience with having been bullied among adolescents, the level of negative emotions when thinking about bullying, and watching a bullying-related film clip showing either one of the coping strategies, rumination or reflection. The experimental film clip conditions were embedded in an electronic questionnaire to gather the data for testing the effects of these conditions. The dependent variables in this study were media preference, enjoyment, coping, information value, perceived realism, and eudaimonic viewing motives. The study by Nabi et al. (2006) served as a model for the current research, with the additional perspectives of Konijn et al. (2009), and Oliver and Raney (in press).
Conclusions
Summarizing the main conclusions of the present study, prior experience and emotional responsiveness proved to have an influence on media preference. In such a way that adolescents with a certain experience were more interested in experience-related media than adolescents without that experience. Being high on emotions when thinking about the experience amplified this effect. At first sight, prior experience and emotional responsiveness did not seem to affect the enjoyment of the experience-related media. But why this nevertheless could be interpreted as an influence is discussed below. Enjoyment was affected by the level of coping that was inspired by the experience-related film, and by the level of realism and information value users attributed to the film. Besides that, both being experience and responding emotional when thinking about that experience resulted in more eudaimonic viewing motives for watching an experience-related film. The research question of this study will be answered below. Some of the main results need to be elaborated on before it is possible to properly answer the question.

MA Thesis Communication Sciences - Why Enjoyment May Be More than the Pursuit of Pleasure

MA Thesis Communication Sciences - Why Enjoyment May Be More than the Pursuit of Pleasure

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