Empathy in the Face of Death: Fear Transcendence Effects are Conditional on Empathizing with Movie Characters in Eudaimonic Entertainment
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Terror Management Theory of Media Entertainment (TMT-ME) proposes that death portrayals in eudaimonic entertainment can invite viewers to face their fear of death and transcend it. Although empirical evidence supports this idea, evidence for the process of fear transcendence is lacking. This study assessed the TMT-ME proposition that active engagement with a movie is a prerequisite for fear transcendence and additionally explored if different ways in which viewers form connections with movie characters mediate these effects. In total, 168 students and 250 adults from the general population were recruited via online panels for an experimental study. Mortality salience and empathy instructions were manipulated, after which participants were assigned to one out of two movie compilations in which a main character died. Character identification, temporarily expanding the boundaries of the self (TEBOTS) and egocentric projection were assessed as mediators, and death attitudes as dependent variable. As hypothesized, participants for whom mortality was salient reported higher death acceptance when they were instructed to empathize with the main character. This effect was not mediated by character identification, TEBOTS, or egocentric projection. The findings suggest that empathy is a prerequisite for fear transcendence effects, yet viewer-character connections do not explain these effects.
Source: Media Psychology
Authors: Anneke de Graaf, Enny Das
Institutions: Radboud University Nijmegen, Center for Language Studies
Language: English
Topic: Media Influence and Health
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4416825459