Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Mass Communications/Telecommunications, 2015The goal of this dissertation was to examine how social comparisons with entertainment television cast members influence emotional responses to reality television programming. Two studies were employed to examine social comparison processes and the relevant factors that influence those comparisons. Both studies were similar in design in that participants viewed a reality or scripted television program and then reported their emotional responses to it. However, the first study utilized a forced exposure environment and the second study implemented a selective exposure environment. There were similarities among the emotional responses to the content across both studies, where generally, viewers experienced stronger social comparison-related emotional responses to scripted programs as compared to reality programs. However, several important differences regarding exposure settings emerged. Negative emotional responses were generally stronger for those in a forced exposure environment than those in a selective exposure environment. Accordingly, positive emotional responses were stronger for those in a selective exposure environment as compared to those in a forced exposure environment. Some participants selected programs for the experience of ‘guilty pleasure,’ choosing programs featuring cast members who were clearly worse off than them and engaging in downward social comparisons with those characters. Individual differences including perceived realism of television and perceived similarity to the characters also demonstrated to be relevant factors that influenced social comparison processes, where stronger emotional responses to the content were experienced when it was either more realistic (Study One) or when the viewers felt highly similar to the cast members (Study Two). Overall, the presented findings provide evidence that directional social comparisons occur with mediated television characters during and after viewing. The findings here serve to inform future research in social comparison theory’s application in mediated contexts and to illustrate how individual differences, content factors, and exposure can influence emotional responses to mediated characters in an entertainment environment.