Emotion Regulation by Switching Between Modes of Reception

Abstract

Within the research program described in this contribution, the principal premise is that the reception process appears to be a dynamically varying relationship between aspects of the movie and aspects of the viewer. The task of research into the effects of movies on the viewer is the empirical analysis of those dynamic relations. An accurate analysis of the movie in question, combined with highly sensitive process data representing the movie’s reception (heart rate, skin conductance, facial expression, body movement) enables researchers to identify and to explain the effects of specific movie features. The multi-method approach is demonstrated by referring to several empirical studies conducted in the light of this conceptualization. So called Modes of Reception explain differences between the reception processes of different people watching the same movie. Modes of Reception are a multidimensional construct consisting of qualitatively differing, interdependent modes of involvement in fictional movies. A scale to measure the Modes of Reception Identity Work, In-Emotion, Imagination and Production is introduced. The construct Modes of Reception is linked to theories of emotion and emotion regulation. The claim is that a switching between Modes of Reception is a more precisely defined way of regaining control through the regulatory strategy Cognitive Change: When watching a movie, a person can decrease negative emotional impact by reappraising, for example, a very violent scene in a horror movie as an interesting idea of the director’s.

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