Abstract
Abstract. The same media content can be interpreted by different people in radically different ways. We propose a framework that considers both the cognitive processes and the associated mental representations implicated in the interpretation of media content. The foundation of this argument stems from a constraint satisfaction approach to coherence, and it explains the dynamic relationship between media content and media consumers’ processing and interpreting of that content. By integrating parallel constraint satisfaction and coherence with reflective imaginative involvement, we present an explanation of how people interpret media stories and how they may engage with these stories in the future. We believe this framework has significant implications for media scholars interested in message processing and effects.
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