Entertainment Effects: Political Outcomes

Political entertainment has many consequences. It influences or reinforces attitudes, informs audiences about the political world, affects the criteria they use when judging politicians, impacts system-level perceptions such as political trust and cynicism, and shapes political tolerance and empathy. Some of our perceptions of ethnic and racial groups are fostered, if not created, by entertainment media. Entertainment can increase our engagement in politics, create interest in more serious political content, and impact our discussions about politics with others. Many of these effects depend on third variables and, in particular, some are stronger for those presumably most detached from politics. Like any other media effects, most of the effects of political entertainment depend on the types of messages consumed.