One of the key assumptions of Zillmann and Bryant's (1985 or so) mood management theory is that people tend to arrange their environments in manners that help them to maintain positive moods and minimize aversive moods. We are hedonistic animals; the road goes on forever and the party never ends.
In a media rich world filled with all sorts of devices for delivering content, located in all sorts of places, entertainment is inevitably a major component of our environments. It is not unusual to hear Robert Earl Keen coming out of the speaker when we take our car to the mechanic. The electronics section at Wal-Mart assaults us with entire walls of entertainment as we stop in to pick up the new Robert Earl Keen CD and catch glorious 52" glimpses of his latest music video. Thankfully, the DMV has added flat screens to pacify us with Robert Earl Keen while we wait in line to renew our driver's licenses.
Ubiquitous Robert Earl Keen may not always be our first choice for entertainment. Instead, we may prefer pre-Y2K Pat Green. No problem -- our iPod, iPhone, laptop, or other device gives us that option, and therefore, an opportunity to create a favorable environment that alleviates the shock of an expensive CV joint repair, or the boredom while waiting at the DMV. Personal computers, televisions, etc. at home, and wireless devices, when we're away from home, give us a media component in our environments over which we have a great degree of control.
A process people use in creating these favorable environments is selective exposure. More specifically, the process of selective exposure determines the content to which people incorporate into their environments through their gadgets. Various other determinants of selective exposure have been identified, some of which range from the ideological, demographic, experience/memory, perception, type and availability of technology, cognitive dissonance, personality, etc. These determinants are important and, more importantly, measureable, but as I mentioned previously, about 80% of decisions are based on affective states. Now I just need to find a concrete scientific study that backs up that 80% number taken from The Persuaders.
What should I take away after writing this blog post? It is very simple.
The default environment provided by companies, education, and other institutions is likely to have an entertainment component. Therefore, entertainment is close to being ubiquitous in our world. If that entertainment component is not to our liking, we can pull out our cell phones, iPods, and laptops and find something that is to our liking.
Knowing this raises a barrage of questions.
1) What effects does ubiquitous entertainment have on our general emotional states?
2) What happens when the power goes out and we no longer have electronic means of managing our moods?
3) What effects does ubiquitous entertainment and control of the entertainment component of our environments have on child development?
4) Is selective exposure the new opiate of the masses?
5) What effects does ubiquitous and/or selective entertainment have on our political functioning?
6) Brave New World or 1984?
7) Is Robert Earl Keen really that entertaining?
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