Transcending Eudaimonic Entertainment

Research thus far has generally conceptualized eudaimonic entertainment as media content that can provide viewers with meaningful, moving, and contemplative experiences. This chapter first outlines the traditional conceptualization of eudaimonic entertainment and the different affective and cognitive processes involved, followed by an expansion on extant definitions. Self-transcendent experiences as another form of eudaimonic entertainment experiences that orient the consumer toward others more so than the self are introduced, followed by an elaboration of the depictions of transcendent portrayals and their effects across different media platforms (film, television, social media and online videos, digital games and virtual reality), theories of self-transcendence, outcomes of eudaimonic entertainment (e.g., altruism, connectedness, wisdom, recovery) and personality differences that impact the selection of and experience with eudaimonic media (e.g., need for affect, empathy). Implications of the expanded conceptualization of eudaimonic entertainment for media scholars and future research directions are discussed.