Coeditors of Special Issue: Mary Beth Oliver (Penn State U) & Arthur A. Raney (Florida State U)

Entertainment research has represented a central area of study among many communication and media-psychology scholars over the last several decades. Foundational work in this area has understandably tended to focus on enjoyment and other hedonic outcomes as central areas of study, though researchers increasingly recognize the importance of broader conceptualizations of the entertainment experience. The purpose of this special issue is to showcase the growing body of social scientific scholarship that is encouraging the discipline to expand the boundaries of our understanding of entertainment so as to more fully capture the role that it plays in the lives of most individuals.

In this special issue we are interested in theoretical and empirical studies that exemplify the functions, experiences, and processes of entertainment that go beyond that of enjoyment per se. Because these expanded boundaries undoubtedly cover a variety of issues, we are open to a wide range of topics. Examples might include, but are not limited to, positive media psychology; cognitive and affective aspects of entertainment consumption; meaningful media experiences; implications of newer collaborative, user-generated, mobile, or interactive technologies for research and theory on entertainment; media and morality; and media and well-being, among others. We are particularly interested in social scientific research that broadens the theoretical scope of entertainment scholarship rather than critical analyses of media content or papers that merely provide literature reviews or apply existing theories to new content areas.

Whatever the specific topic, our goal is to select manuscripts that make a substantive contribution to social scientific research on entertainment and provide a roadmap for future scholars in this burgeoning area of study.  If you have questions regarding the appropriateness of a potential submission, please contact Mary Beth Oliver, Coeditor of this special issue, at mbo@psu.edu.

Deadline for submission is 1 October 2013, through http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcom.  Manuscripts must conform to all JOC guidelines, including the use of APA 6th edition format and a limit of 35 pages total manuscript length including tables, figures, and references.  Please indicate your desire to be considered for the special issue in your cover letter.