User:Rmg5056

Absorbing Potential
Defined as the ability to involve the viewer, absorbing potential encorporates various characteristics of media entertainment and mood management with respect to moods of the individual. Mood status, good or bad, directly relates with the reaction the viewer has to the media presented. "Good" moods select low in absorbing potential, if at all, while "bad" moods select high in absorbing potential.

Viewers tend to become attached to what is being seen, whether relating personally with the characters on the screen or directly encorporating aspects into real life scenarios. Another term working close with absorbing potential is behavioral affinity. The extent to which some media portrayal is related to one's present mood state, the two terms aid in the success of one another. While low in absorbing potential, good moods score high in behavioral affinity and vice versa with bad moods.

Success in involving the viewer takes a step further towards behavioral affinity. When smarting from a break-up, the typical viewer favors movies with subjects of anything other than romance. Shying away from things that will remind him or her of current state, the viewer purposefully looks for a specific type of media.

Another strong contribution ot absorbing potential is found in the primary assumption of mood management, herdonism. Favoring a system of maximum pleasure and minimum pain, hedonism persues "pleasures of the senses." Entertainment in and of itself serves as the primary example of this term. A viewer tunes in to find enjoyment in the medium of his or her choice. Exceptions to the general results do occur, however, considering empathy or sympathy of the viewer and the selected media.

Related/Contributing Links
•Mood Adjustment Versus Mass Communication; Silvia Knobloch

With contributions from Zillmann.

•Hedonism as a Motive; Werner Wirth and Holger Schramm

Relating to personality and Entertainment.