Media Characters and Moral Understanding

Abstract This chapter outlines how media psychology understands the relationship of character engagement to moral understanding in the viewing of media narratives. It argues that media characters can (but do not necessarily) serve as moral exemplars for audiences. The chapter first describes the various psychological processes involved in character engagement, among which are identification, wishful identification, similarity (homophily) and social identity, parasocial interaction and relationships, and character networks. The chapter goes on to show how characters can function as moral exemplars. Then it traces the possible effects of such moral exemplars on moral understanding. Media narratives can serve as a moral laboratory of the mind, can portray morally salient situations with special clarity, may work against egocentric perspectives, and may lead to moral rumination.