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Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism

Media priming is one of the most deeply-rooted and wide span theories in media studies. Previous research deploying this theory usually compared the effects of pro-social and anti-social media priming, while this study opted to compare the effects of pro-social fictional and non-fictional media cont...

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Main Author: Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
author_browse Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
author_facet Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
author_sort Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.
description Media priming is one of the most deeply-rooted and wide span theories in media studies. Previous research deploying this theory usually compared the effects of pro-social and anti-social media priming, while this study opted to compare the effects of pro-social fictional and non-fictional media content. Furthermore, the researcher attempts to examine the effects of media priming on situational altruism, as well as, measure the difference between exposure to fictional and non-fictional videos of heroic acts, when it comes to priming an actual helping behavior. An experiment was conducted using a staged manipulation of a sexual harassment situation, as a high cost help situation. The results were statistically insignificant possibly due to the relatively small sample, the one time exposure, or cultural aspects. Nonetheless, the study’s frequencies show that those exposed to non-fictional videos have a higher likelihood of acting altruistically when they encounter a run-in with a naturalistic sexual harassment situation on college campus, than those exposed to fictional videos. Additionally, fiction has been found more likely to prime pleasure-based motivations and non-fiction primes pressure-based motivations. As for the bystander barriers, the findings show that those exposed to non-fiction experience them more than those exposed to fiction.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:42.290Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2016
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1566 Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism Aboulez, Nermine Mourad Media priming is one of the most deeply-rooted and wide span theories in media studies. Previous research deploying this theory usually compared the effects of pro-social and anti-social media priming, while this study opted to compare the effects of pro-social fictional and non-fictional media content. Furthermore, the researcher attempts to examine the effects of media priming on situational altruism, as well as, measure the difference between exposure to fictional and non-fictional videos of heroic acts, when it comes to priming an actual helping behavior. An experiment was conducted using a staged manipulation of a sexual harassment situation, as a high cost help situation. The results were statistically insignificant possibly due to the relatively small sample, the one time exposure, or cultural aspects. Nonetheless, the study’s frequencies show that those exposed to non-fictional videos have a higher likelihood of acting altruistically when they encounter a run-in with a naturalistic sexual harassment situation on college campus, than those exposed to fictional videos. Additionally, fiction has been found more likely to prime pleasure-based motivations and non-fiction primes pressure-based motivations. As for the bystander barriers, the findings show that those exposed to non-fiction experience them more than those exposed to fiction. 2016-06-01T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/567 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1566/viewcontent/Nermine_20Aboulez_20Thesis.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Fiction Non-Fiction
spellingShingle Fiction
Non-Fiction
Aboulez, Nermine Mourad
Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title_full Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title_fullStr Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title_full_unstemmed Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title_short Superhero v bystander effect: Effects of fictional and non-fictional media priming on situational altruism
title_sort superhero v bystander effect effects of fictional and non fictional media priming on situational altruism
topic Fiction
Non-Fiction
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/567
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1566/viewcontent/Nermine_20Aboulez_20Thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT abouleznerminemourad superherovbystandereffecteffectsoffictionalandnonfictionalmediaprimingonsituationalaltruism