Methodological Issues in the Study of

Morality and Media

Mina Tsay, Ph.D.Assistant Professor

Department of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public RelationsCollege of Communication

Boston University

The Case for Morality and Media: Overviewing, Reviewing, and Previewing our

Understanding of Morality in Media Uses and Effects

AEJMC 2011 St. Louis

Questions of InterestDoes morality impact:

Media choices?Response to media content?

Characters Narrative Gratifications

Our moral codes and values?

Does content reflect cultural differences in morality?

Methodological Challenges

Conscious vs. unconscious processing/ emotional reactions

Moral judgment vs. feeling?

Self-reports of moral reasoning, character perceptions, and overall media experience

Tapping into social justice, feelings of guilt, rationalization, empathy, enjoyment => all “imply” moral justification or disengagement

Methodological Challenges (cont.)

Dichotomy of “good” vs. “evil” is problematicConsideration of morally ambiguous characters

Methodological Challenges (cont.)

Moral ambiguity based on:Traits?Behaviors?Anticipated outcome?Character liking?Empathy?Character similarity?Or a combination?

Methodological Challenges (cont.)

Morality subculturesWithin and across different nationalitiesCultural/socialization considerations

Morality across media platformsTraditional vs. interactive

Interactive Games

Methodological Challenges (cont.)

Moral codes/boundariesNarrative vs. real world

If video games enhance “interactivity,” how do we accurately “measure” their true impact on moral codes exhibited in the real world?Behavioral/physiological measuresMay need to depend on measures outside of affective, perceptual, and cognitive ones

Food for Thought

Need to consider:

Context (changing media landscape)

Triangulation of methods and measures (qualitative and quantitative)