Abstract
ABSTRACTSeveral studies have shown that narratives can influence readers’ beliefs about themselves. In the present study, our goal was to investigate whether stories portraying a strong protagonist can positively influence recipients’ beliefs of being in control of events in their own lives (self-related control beliefs). Experiment 1 showed that narratives in both written text and video form with protagonists displaying high versus low self-efficacy can, at least temporarily, affect recipients’ own self-related control beliefs when they experience strong transportation into the stories. In addition, the results suggest that recipients’ perceived ability to generate vivid mental imagery affects their transportation into and identification with characters in texts versus films. Experiment 2 manipulated transportation and identification experimentally and showed that the effect of this manipulation on self-related control beliefs was indeed mediated by experienced transportation and identification. The results are discussed within the framework of the Transportation Imagery Model of narrative persuasion.
Highlights
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” —Neil Gaiman
While a moderating effect of transportation is in line with the Transportation Imagery Model, a stronger test of the model would be to show that a successful experimental manipulation of transportation affects the persuasive outcome and that this effect is mediated by recipients’ self-reported transportation
We explore the role of identification with protagonists as another potential moderator and mediator of narrative impact and the influence of the perceived ability to generate vivid mental imagery on transportation and identification in different media
Summary
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” —Neil Gaiman. In line with the postulates of the Transportation Imagery Model, previous studies have found transportation to be a significant moderator of narrative impact (e.g., Richter, Appel, & Calio, 2014; Sestir & Green, 2010) While this finding is in line with the idea that transportation plays a causal role in narrative persuasion, much stronger evidence for this is the finding that an experimental manipulation of transportation directly affects the persuasive impact of a narrative and that this effect is mediated by recipients’ self-reported transportation. Further evidence for a mediating role of transportation in narrative persuasion that relies on a successful experimental manipulation of transportation seems desirable
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