Eudaimonic Media Experiences and Audience Engagement

Eudaimonic media experiences arise when audiences encounter content that encourages reflection on meaning, purpose and moral virtues rather than mere pleasure. Such experiences often involve narratives characterised by self-transcendence, moral complexity or incomplete goal fulfilment, prompting viewers to engage deeply with characters’ inner journeys. Key processes include transportation into the story world, identification with characters and subsequent reflection on personal and social values. In turn, this form of engagement has been linked to elevated well-being, increased prosocial behaviour and sustained cognitive appraisal of media messages. Research has demonstrated that across genres—from bereavement documentaries to sports dramas—eudaimonic narratives foster emotional nuances such as mixed affect, moral elevation and connectedness, thereby producing lasting psychological and behavioural outcomes. Globally, this genre holds practical promise for therapeutic interventions, educational programmes and social campaigns that seek not only to entertain but also to cultivate resilience, meaning in life and community cohesion.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have shown that moral ambiguity in media narratives serves as a potent catalyst for audience engagement. When protagonists deviate from moral norms—whether through acts of malice or complex ethical dilemmas—viewers exhibit enhanced curiosity and active information seeking to understand character motivations. This moral curiosity leads to greater time investment in narratives, deeper cognitive processing and a preference for explanatory over descriptive content. Such findings underscore how intricately woven moral themes can elevate eudaimonic engagement by prompting audiences to interrogate values and social norms.

Eudaimonic Media Experiences and Audience Engagement publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in eudaimonic media experiences and audience engagement across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Eudaimonic media experiences: Content that fosters reflection on meaning, purpose and virtue beyond immediate pleasure.

Hedonic media experiences: Content aimed primarily at eliciting positive affect and sensory enjoyment.

Transportation: The cognitive and emotional immersion of an audience member into a narrative world.

Self-transcendence: A sense of connectedness to something greater than oneself, often elicited by inspiring media.

Narrative engagement: The degree of involvement—both cognitive and affective—that an audience member experiences with a story.

Moral curiosity: The drive to seek deeper understanding of ethical dimensions presented in narratives.

References

1. People are curious about immoral and morally ambiguous others. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. “They Never Really Leave Us”: Transcendent Narratives About Loss Resonate With the Experience of Severe Grief. Human Communication Research (2022).
3. The Winner Doesn’t Take It All: Analyzing Audience Responses to an Inspirational Sports Narrative. Media and Communication (2021).
4. The longitudinal influence of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment preferences on psychological resilience and wellbeing. Frontiers in Communication (2022).