University Essay: Psychology of Media and Entertainment Study

This essay delves into the psychology of media and entertainment, focusing on the work of Raymond Mar and Keith Oatley. It examines the significance of fiction literature, arguing that it provides a unique form of social simulation, fostering empathy and enhancing social understanding. The essay explores the strengths and weaknesses of this perspective, highlighting the emotional connections consumers develop with narratives and the role of fiction in understanding the social world. It also discusses the application of these concepts, such as the stress-reducing benefits of reading fiction. The essay references several studies to support its arguments, concluding that the study of fiction literature enhances empathy and moral development.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT 1
Psychology of Media and Entertainment
Student’s Name
University Affiliation

PSYCHOLOGY OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT 2
Abstract
The psychological study of media has evolved to be a significant and exciting field of
study. The emergence of technology has opened a way of the application of other psychological
theories to the better understanding of the area. Media psychology gives a significant base in the
body of the extensive and broad psychological thought including cognitive study environmental
cultural, narrative and sensory study. This paper will focus on the psychological research of
media as studied by Raymond Mar and Keith Oatley in their 2008 paper (Oatley, 2016).

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Psychology of Media and Entertainment
The fiction literature has faced ignorance because this literature focuses on entertainment.
Fiction literature does not have any existing connection whatsoever with the empirical study.
Literary narratives are considered more important in the cause of social life. They offer well-
defined models of mutual interaction through simplification, abstraction, and compression. The
learning of the simulative literature of fiction is important because it provides the basis of
understanding other pieces of literature related to social living and developing the ability for
empathy and social togetherness (Oatley, 2016).
The main claim put forward by Raymond Mar and Keith Oatley in their 2008
paper.
The study of literary fiction are interesting because, people spend a significant part of
their time in products that show narratives like film, novels plays and television programs such
as drama. The author argues that in the process of using these film and novel products humans
undergo a form of exposure that cannot be found in any other place. This exposure cause’s
people to react to the information portrayed in the events as if they are involved (Nijhof, &
Willems 2015). There has been great overshadowing of this tremendous and exciting exposure
in the fiction literature from the scientific study that, fiction literature only has a mere function in
entertainment. The author puts forward nicely crafted stories that can blend adequately in the
social lives of the community and encourages a better understanding of social information. The
shreds of evidence presented in the proposed theory, make significant proposals in social matters
that are of great interest lately, which include the basics of empathy, the understanding of the
mind, well understanding of people intentions, and the continuous improvement of the social
standards and skills (Mar, et al 2008).

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According to (Mar et al. 2008) simulation has a relationship with narrative fiction in two
different ways which include the people who watch and read literature products experience
feelings and thoughts that are in line with the events presented in the works of literature exposed
to the person. There is a strong emotional connection in the consumers of the narrative literature.
The other way in which literary writing relates with simulation is that, stories tell and show what
happens in the social world. The fiction stories provide a lot of information to the consumers,
they allow for prediction and understanding of the stories in the social world. The function of
fiction information can then be shown clearly to help the people understand the social world that
people stay (Koopman, 2015).
Simulation literature provides the passing of information from one party to another and
the comprehension of social intelligence, and this makes it more convincing, a satisfying method
of learning through experience. When people engage in simulative experiences, they are able to
understand better others who do not behave similarly to them and build a basis for social
interaction (Koopman, et al 2015). The study shows that the relationship of the invention is
positively related to the social support structure (Mar, et al 2008).
Strengths and weaknesses of Raymond Mar and Keith Oatley study of simulation.
The main weakness of the fiction literature study is that Simulation occurs on other
people minds and self-minds as they interact in the social world. There is a critique that people
are best in comprehending processes organized in stepwise and those that flow in chronological
order. But the same people will less understand the same methods with interaction with people,
and this provides a deadlock situation in the study of fiction literature because the exposure to
the literature materials formed from fiction may not have much impact to the individuals who are
having the exposure for fun. (Nijhof, & Willems 2015). So what happens to the mind of the

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people who are exposed to fiction literature if other factors are involved? Like the real world
experiences that differ with the fiction. For example, when an individual is watching a horror
movie, this cannot have any effect on the mind of the person exposed because things portrayed in
the film are not real. The study to show how much people read in the society was named as the
Art Recognition Test (ART) this shows how much people know their authors and the books they
have learned (Oatley, 2016).
There is a strength in the study of fiction literature in that, the review of fiction literature
enhances the sympathies of the individuals in the social relations. Several studies have been
conducted to show that writing encourages and supports sympathies from various characters in a
story or play as a core function from the point of view from which the play or the story
developed from (Kidd, et al 2016). The idea of fiction literature is the laboratory for moral
growth and the development of morals. It is considered as the primary growth strategy where
members of the society can enhance their morals and development of feelings which leads to
empathy, the change of norms and values, and also self-concept development (Kidd, & Castano,
2017).
Application.
The experience of reading a fiction book has many advantages, and one of them is the
reduction of stress. A study shows that a reading of fiction for six minutes reduces stress levels
with about 60%. A book by Rick Carson titled Taming your Gremlin, A Surprisingly Simple
Method for Getting Out of Your Way has a great relaxing experience for sure (Tamir, et al 2015).

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References
Kidd, D., Ongis, M., & Castano, E. (2016). On literary fiction and its effects on theory of mind.
Scientific Study of Literature, 6(1), 42-58.
Kidd, D., & Castano, E. (2017). Different stories: How levels of familiarity with literary and
genre fiction relate to mentalizing. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts,
11(4), 474.
Koopman, E. M. E., & Hakemulder, F. (2015). Effects of literature on empathy and self-
reflection: A theoretical-empirical framework. Journal of Literary Theory, 9(1), 79-111.
Koopman, E. M. E. (2015). Empathic reactions after reading: The role of genre, personal factors
and affective responses. Poetics, 50, 62-79.
Mar, R.A., Oatley, K. (2008). 3(3), 173-192.
City Name: Publisher Name. The Fuction of Fiction is the abstration and Simulation of
Social Experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Nijhof, A. D., & Willems, R. M. (2015). Simulating fiction: individual differences in
literature comprehension revealed with fMRI. PLoS One, 10(2), e0116492.
Oatley, K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of social worlds. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(8), 618-
628.
Tamir, D. I., Bricker, A. B., Dodell-Feder, D., & Mitchell, J. P. (2015). Reading fiction
and reading minds: the role of simulation in the default network. Social cognitive and
affective neuroscience, 11(2), 215-224.

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