Beyond temporary relief: Coping with entertainment under everyday adversity and its longitudinal effects on resilience and well-being
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Media entertainment is a common tool for coping with everyday stressors. Though evidencesuggests short-term benefits of using entertainment for coping, it remains unclear (a) howstressors affect the selection of different types of entertainment, and (b) whetherentertainment can provide regulatory resources beyond single usage episodes. We thereforeapproach the selection of entertainment media under adversity from a coping perspective, andthe lasting effects of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment use on hope, optimism, andgratitude from a resilience perspective. Results from a diary study with nd = 600 participantsand td = 6412 observations and weekly surveys (nw = 609, tw = 5089) reveal complexrelationships between stressors and entertainment choices. Hedonic and eudaimonicentertainment use positively related to resilience consistently in both time intervals.Resilience increased well-being at T+1. Our findings highlight that entertainment use servesas both a resource for resilience and a problem-focused coping strategy.
