Abstract
Based on a review of eudaimonic emotion concepts, definitional and empirical overlaps between the concepts are identified and a framework of eudaimonic emotions is developed. The framework proposes that feelings of elevation, awe, tenderness, and being moved can be differentiated based on their feeling components, thus constituting the feeling-specific types of eudaimonic emotions. A variety of other emotion concepts rely on reference to their elicitors, such as moral elevation (i.e., being moved by moral virtue), aesthetic awe (i.e., being moved by beauty), kama muta (i.e., being moved by communal sharing) and admiration (i.e., being moved by achievements), thus constituting elicitor-specific types of eudaimonic emotions. Structuring eudaimonic emotions along these lines allows for integrating research on these emotions. This integration leads to the proposition of general eudaimonic effects and value-specific effects of positive eudaimonic emotions on behaviour. Considering these effects can enhance understanding of how positive eudaimonic emotions affect pro-social intentions—the bright side of being moved—as well as the manipulating effects of propaganda—the dark side of being moved.
Highlights
People sometimes watch movies because they make them laugh or engage with social media because it is pleasurable
Drawing upon the aforementioned distinction between eudaimonic and hedonic motivation (Oliver, 2008), eudaimonic emotions can be defined as positive affective reactions to human virtues, while hedonic emotions refer to positive affective reactions to self-focused short-term goals
The elicitors of moral elevation and awe differ, they are usually assessed with similar items and exhibit similar behavioural consequences
Summary
People sometimes watch movies because they make them laugh or engage with social media because it is pleasurable. Recent research reveals that eudaimonic themes are prevalent in movies and Facebook posts (Dale et al, 2020; Dale, Raney, Janicke, Sanders, & Oliver, 2017) as well as digital games (Daneels, Bowman, Possler, & Mekler, 2021), and in extremist propaganda (Frischlich, 2020; Frischlich, Rieger, Morten, & Bente, 2018) Responses to these eudaimonic themes are relevant for the motivation to enhance others’ well-being (Freeman, Aquino, & McFerran, 2009) and for attraction to extremist groups (Frischlich et al, 2018). Based on a review of eudaimonic emotion concepts, a general framework of eudaimonic emotions is proposed that differentiates between feeling-specific and elicitor-specific emotions This integration provides a basis for explaining the effects of eudaimonic emotions on pro- and anti-social intentions in the context of media use
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