{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T16:28:04Z","timestamp":1770740884045,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,5]],"date-time":"2017-12-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1512432000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> Enjoyment of frightening content is a paradoxical issue in communication research. Revising Zillmann\u2019s model of suspense, we propose a three-factor model examining the audience appeal of horror content in a virtual reality (VR) survival horror game. In a laboratory study, participants played a VR horror game. The results show significant effects of the three-way interaction among horror self-efficacy, physiological arousal, and fear on enjoyment and future intentions to play similar games. Horror self-efficacy interacts with fear to affect enjoyment only among high-arousal participants. Among high-fear participants, higher horror self-efficacy leads to significantly greater enjoyment than lower horror self-efficacy. We measured enjoyment through self-reported ratings, future intentions to play similar games, and the behavioral choice of subsequent games to demonstrate the appeal of horror content. Horror self-efficacy in coping with mediated fright is the key to explaining the conditional positive association of fear and enjoyment in the gaming context. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444817744850","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,6]],"date-time":"2017-12-06T06:38:26Z","timestamp":1512542306000},"page":"3223-3242","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":51,"title":["So scary, yet so fun: The role of self-efficacy in enjoyment of a virtual reality horror game"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Jih-Hsuan Tammy","family":"Lin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Dai-Yun","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Chengchi University, Taiwan"}]},{"given":"Chen-Chao","family":"Tao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444817744850","volume-title":"Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control","author":"Bandura A","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-6245.2012.01530.x"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03637751003790477"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17482790903407242"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444817744850","volume-title":"The Oculus rift as a portal for presence: the effects of technology advancement and sex differences in the horror video game genre","author":"Day TWM","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0304-422X(94)00010-4"},{"key":"bibr7-1461444817744850","volume-title":"Proceedings of DiGRA conference 2007, University of Tokyo","author":"Dekker A","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444817744850","volume-title":"Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach","author":"Hayes AF","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/08824090903293700"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03637759109376213"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/S1532785XMEP0702_5"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15213260701282915"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2885.2009.01347.x"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15506878jobem4803_2"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/08838150701626511"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15213260902849927"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcom.12044"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/08838151.2015.1029128"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2015.11.041"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03192732"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/03637751003790444"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2958.2009.01368.x"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15213269.2012.673850"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2678025.2700999"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444817744850","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203181027"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444817744850","unstructured":"Prasuethsut L, Charara S (2016) Best VR games 2016: titles you can\u2019t miss for HTC Vive, oculus rift and more. 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