NEWS AS NONFICTION THEATER - HOW DISPOSITIONS TOWARD THE PUBLIC CAST OF CHARACTERS AFFECT REACTIONS

Affective dispositions toward public persons and groups were ascertain ed and related to enjoyment reactions to news reports featuring these parties as recipients of bad or good fortune. Consistent with predicti ons derived from drama theory, favorable dispositions heightened enjoy ment reactions to good-fortune reports, and they suppressed such react ions to bad-fortune reports. Unfavorable dispositions, in contrast, he ightened enjoyment reactions to bad-fortune reports and suppressed suc h reactions to good-fortune reports. Regarding the revelation of bad f ortunes, the effects were limited to reports of comparatively minor mi sfortunes. Reports of grievous harm to target persons were essentially unaffected by dispositional variations.