Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Award Date
2025
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department / School
Communication and Journalism
First Advisor
Hayden Barber
Abstract
Immersion is an important aspect of entertainment media because it both drives the use of media and heightens one’s experience with that media (Nilsson et al., 2016). There are three core aspects of immersion. These aspects are (1) narrative engagement, (2) flow, and (3) enjoyment. This study set out to determine whether these aspects are statistically distinct from one another when observed in video games. The result indicated that these aspects were distinct from one another when examined through a structural equation model. This indicates that creating an overarching immersion variable that combines the different aspects of immersion may not be beneficial as it would leave out aspects of immersion. However, measures used in an attempt to influence narrative engagement and flow, narrative richness and gamification failed to have any impact. Therefore, future research should be done on how to better manipulate richness and gamification in an effort to influence narrative engagement and flow.
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Wagener, Lars, "What Do We Get Out of Our Entertainment? Empirically Determining the Differences Between Narrative Engagement and Flow Using Video Games" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1513.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/1513
Rights Statement
