The Promises and Pitfalls of Inspirational Media: What do We Know, and Where do We Go from Here?

Abstract

This editorial introduces the thematic issue on inspirational media; including its role in the elicitation of meaning and self-transcendence, audience responses to inspirational narratives, and the potential for inspirational media to be used for manipulative purposes. We first set the stage for the thematic issue by describing an organizing framework by Thrash and Elliot (2003) to study inspiration. We then situate the seven articles published in this thematic issue along the logic of different components of this framework, namely media <em>content</em> capable of invoking <em>transcendence</em> through emotions and excitatory responses, and a <em>motivational</em> impulse to act upon the ideas acquired from content. This thematic issue thereby highlights unique perspectives for understanding media’s ability to serve as the source of inspiration<em>—</em>be it for social benefit or detriment. Finally, we consider directions for future research on inspirational media.