The purposes of the study were to examine the potential of video games as mood changing tools, and to compare the effects of interactive media to mood and enjoyment with those of traditional media. Mood management theory was employed as a theoretical framework. Specifically, since interactive media require more cognitive intervention, this dissertation predicted 1) video games would enhance mood among members of the bad mood condition better than members of the good mood condition, and 2) video game would be more effective than DVD clips to change bad mood. A factorial design with two mood conditions (good vs. bad), media condition (video game vs. DVD clip) and time (pre- vs. post-media exposure) was employed to examine the predictions. The sample was recruited from large-lecture classes in the Department of Communication at FSU. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. It was found that video games were effective in changing mood. Specifically, consistent with mood management assumptions, members of the bad mood group reported greater positive mood increase and negative mood decrease than members of the good mood group. In a cross-medium setting, the expected mood and media interaction effect was not observed. However, when video game skill was used as one of the factors, mood management expectations were partially supported. Specifically, video game players increased their positive mood greater than DVD clip viewers, only when their video game skill was highly competent. Based on these results, this dissertation concludes that 1) video games are media that can be considered as possible mood enhancers, 2) although media interactivity is often defined as the amount of technological features a medium provides, perceived interactivity may better explain the effect of interactivity on media users' affective, cognitive and behavioral responses, 3) video game skill or familiarity with the game is a significant predictor of mood enhancement and enjoyment among video game players, 4) the intervention potential of a media message or a media type is a significant predictor of enjoyment in cross-medium comparison setting, and 5) enjoyment is obtained when positive factor of mood increased. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Communication in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / December 13, 2007. / Enjoyment, Media Effect, Video Game, Mood Management, Mood, Interactivity / Includes bibliographical references. / Arthur A. Raney, Professor Directing Dissertation; Susan Losh, Outside Committee Member; Gary R. Heald, Committee Member; Steven McClung, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_180471 |
| Contributors | Park, Youngrak (authoraut), Raney, Arthur A. (professor directing dissertation), Losh, Susan (outside committee member), Heald, Gary R. (committee member), McClung, Steven (committee member), School of Communication (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.071 seconds