ABSTRACT
When we approach entertainment as an experience that is sought after and enjoyed, we encounter the enduring questions of its psychological cause. Why do human beings, across a range of different cultures and historical periods, seek out and enjoy the experience of entertainment? Why do they select and create certain types of situations—and not others—to entertain themselves? Why do they seek entertainment so often, for such long periods of time, and in so many different situations and settings? To ask these questions is to adopt the perspective that entertainment is a response to a certain set of opportunities rather than a feature of a particular media product itself (Bosshart & Macconi, 1998; Bryant & Miron, 2003; Vorderer, 2001; Zillmann & Bryant, 1994).
