Psychology of Entertainment

Associate Professor Meghan S. Sanders Manship School of Mass Communication

Media can impact how we feel, what we think and what we do. Entertainment arguably has mixed effects on society. The study of media entertainment – its uses and effects – has been the focus of mass communication scholars since at least the 1920s, and a focus of parents and politicians for centuries before that. This course will orient students to historic and contemporary trends in the study of entertainment effects, serving as a primer for further investigations into the role of entertainment in modern society.

Topics include psychology of horror, transmedia experiences, cross-cultural entertainment, video games, entertainment for social good, and morality and entertainment.