The Prosocial and Cathartic Potential of Immersive Media on Eudaimonic Entertainment Experiences

Recent scholarship in media entertainment supports the potential of meaningful and thought-provoking or eudaimonic narratives to facilitate a host of positive outcomes including elevation, catharsis, and altruism. Although the prosocial impact of such content has been examined in a variety of contexts including TV, films, video games, and social networking sites, researchers have yet to fully understand the influence of immersive storytelling on users’ eudaimonic entertainment experiences. Using a 2 (Immersion: two-dimensional video format, 360° video using a virtual reality headset) × 2 (Nature of content: hedonic, eudaimonic) between-subjects design (N = 163), this study empirically investigates (a) the impacts of eudaimonic content on elevation and catharsis, which subsequently influence enjoyment, appreciation, and altruistic motivations and (b) how the level of immersion bolsters such impacts. Individual trait differences in openness and reflectiveness are accounted for in these relationships. Implications for the impact of immersive technology and meaningful entertainment on narrative responses and prosocial tendency are discussed.