Theory of Mind, Empathy, and Eudaimonic Media Preferences

Understanding what drives people to prefer certain types of media content has been a consistent focus of media researchers since the field originated. In the last several years, attention has turned to understanding why people might generally prefer sad, uplifting, and/or meaningful media (i.e. eudaimonic media) to content that is primarily focused on increasing pleasure (i.e. hedonic media). In particular, researchers have tried to identify whether there are trait-like individual differences which helps to explain these preferences with previous theorizing suggesting that individuals with more advanced social cognition (e.g. empathy and theory of mind (ToM)) are more likely to prefer eudaimonic media. To that end, the current study tested whether this theorizing is supported among a population of 477 young adults. Results showed that trait empathy and affective/communicative ToM were positively associated with eudaimonic media preferences, while cognitive ToM was negatively linked. In addition, the results revealed that trait empathy, but not ToM, positively predicted hedonic media preferences. These results provide some clarity regarding how elements of social cognition potentially shape media preferences, particularly for engagement with eudaimonic media.