Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau Presents at the 6th International Conference of Possibility Studies

Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau presented “Can a film move you to make a prosocial decision?” at the 6th International Conference of Possibility Studies, Waves of Possibility, at the University of Sussex.

The conference was organised by the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex under the auspices of the Possibility Studies Network, 30 June to 2 July 2026 in Brighton. The talk was presented on 1 July, under the conference themes “Fostering possibilities in and through the arts” and “Methodological innovations.”

Abstract

This research explores what makes people decide to reach out and offer support to others. Charities and health organisations increasingly use creative multimedia content to promote prosocial actions for mental health support, yet little is known about how effective different formats can be to nudge people to act. The talk examined (1) whether a professionally produced film narrative is a more effective video format compared to informational video with text overlay to create an emotional connection and encourage people to reach out to their friends, and (2) whether the extent to which viewers experience an emotional reaction to the video impacts their subsequent decision to reach out to others. Both implicit emotional processing (automated facial expression analysis) and explicit emotional experience (kama muta, the feeling of being moved by communal bonds) were measured, alongside behavioural decisions. The talk presented analyses of data from over 100 participants and discussed the implications for understanding how moving images can impact decisions.

More information on the conference page.