Intercultural Sensitivity Development Through Flow: Using Media to Stimulate Parasocial Contact Hypothesis

founded positive psychology in 1999 in the pursuit of looking at the positive features that make life worth living.In the past psychology mostly focused on the deficiencies of humans.One of the theories that led to Positive Psychology was Flow.Flow is characterized by a person's complete absorption in an activity and is often referred to as the optimal experience.In this study participants were exposed to unfamiliar cultures using films and online media in an attempt to create optimal experiences while learning about the unfamiliar.These optimal experiences would be a component for Parasocial Contact Hypothesis exposure.Contact Hypothesis is the idea that people become closer and care if they are exposed to an unfamiliar individual or group through non-threatening experiences.Participants were exposed to seven different cultures throughout the study and kept journals of their encounters.These journals were coded and rated using the Bennet Scale which measures Development of Intercultural sensitivity when encountering experience of difference.