Captivated by Meaning

Abstract This chapter reviews how self-determination theory (SDT) clarifies the motivational dynamics of entertainment media and informs moral questions of its impact. A growing body of SDT research has gone behind the flash and spectacle on the screen to assess the psychological fulfillments and key experiences that account for much of its motivational pull. This work provides a blueprint of the specific experiences, content, and features that deepen fulfillment. As important, SDT offers a process model of how fulfilling experiences predict sustained engagement over time. The chapter beings with a review of the research on the motivational pull of video games, whose immersive contexts can provide rich satisfactions of basic psychological needs enhancing intrinsic motivation to play. It then turns to more traditional forms of entertainment media, discussing the recent work applying SDT to investigate a process model of engagement with TV shows, exploring how basic need fulfillments in narratives impact engagement. Finally, practical considerations as well as directions for future research are discussed.