“This story is right on”: The impact of regulatory fit on narrative engagement and persuasion

When people read a story, feelings of rightness from regulatory fit (consistency between regulatory state and strategic means) could suggest that the story is “right on” relative to feelings of wrongness from regulatory nonfit. Under these conditions, individuals who are experiencing feelings of rightness should engage more with the narrative and be more persuaded by its implicit messages. Results from two experiments supported these hypotheses. Participants in Experiment 1 were more mentally engaged (transported) by the story when they experienced regulatory fit. We replicated this effect in Experiment 2 and extended it to endorsement of story‐consistent beliefs, an indicator of persuasion via narratives. Additionally, we found that drawing participants' attention to an earlier event as a source of feelings of rightness eliminated the regulatory fit effects on transportation and persuasion, suggesting attribution of feelings of regulatory fit/nonfit to the plausibility of the narrative world. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bringing the frame into focus: the influence of regulatory fit on processing fluency and persuasion

This research demonstrates that people's goals associated with regulatory focus moderate the effect of message framing on persuasion. The results of 6 experiments show that appeals presented in gain frames are more persuasive when the message is promotion focused, whereas loss-framed appeals are more persuasive when the message is prevention focused. These regulatory focus effects suggesting heightened vigilance against negative outcomes and heightened eagerness toward positive outcomes are replicated when perceived risk is manipulated. Enhanced processing fluency leading to more favorable evaluations in conditions of compatibility appears to underlie these effects. The findings underscore the regulatory fit principle that accounts for the persuasiveness of message framing effects and highlight how processing fluency may contribute to the "feeling right" experience when the strategy of goal pursuit matches one's goal.     

Regulatory Fit and Persuasion: Basic Principles and Remaining Questions

How can researchers and practitioners use regulatory fit theory to increase the effectiveness of their attempts to change attitudes and behavior? In this article, we extract from the literature a set of basic processes by which fit can influence persuasion and describe different methods for inducing fit. Regulatory fit can influence persuasion by: (i) making message recipients feel right during message reception; (ii) increasing recipients’ strength of engagement with the message, which contributes to processing fluency; and (iii) influencing elaboration likelihood. Integral methods induce fit within the persuasion situation (as with framing of message arguments, source delivery style, and decision means), whereas incidental methods induce fit independent of the persuasion situation. We discuss common difficulties researchers may encounter with these techniques, and clarify existing confusions about regulatory fit and regulatory focus theory. Throughout, we highlight important questions that must be addressed to attain a complete understanding of regulatory fit.     

Testing the Explanatory Power of Two Measures of Narrative Involvement: An Investigation of the Influence of Transportation and Narrative Engagement on the Process of Narrative Persuasion

Achieving a more sophisticated understanding of narrative persuasion requires an examination of how the experience of narrative involvement influences persuasive resistance. In this study, we used a multiple message design approach to test two models of narrative involvement, one with transportation and the other with narrative engagement, with programs featuring persuasive stories about sexual and reproductive topics from primetime television. Although both transportation and the narrative engagement influenced processes related to changes in participants’ (N = 362) beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions, the two scales influenced different cognitive and affective responses to the narratives. Transportation was positively related to enjoyment and the perception that the narrative topic was personally relevant. Narrative engagement predicted enjoyment and reduced reactance. Neither transportation nor narrative engagement significantly influenced cognitive elaboration or counterarguments, based on the application of a thought-listing procedure designed to measure counterarguments related to the realism of the narratives. Put together, these findings suggest that the study of narrative persuasion necessitates the use of different measurement instruments that can adequately assess the multidimensional nature and influence of narrative involvement.     

Processing fluency affects behavior more strongly among people higher in trait mindfulness

Processing fluency is the ease of processing information about a stimulus, which people can attribute to the experience of enjoyment. Despite consistent findings that processing fluency can affect self-reported judgments, little research has examined whether processing fluency or its interactions with personality traits can affect behavior. The current studies demonstrate that processing fluency is more likely to affect behavior among people higher in trait mindfulness. We manipulated processing fluency with rhyming versus nonrhyming maxims in Study 1 and with regulatory fit versus nonfit in Study 2. Participants higher in mindfulness showed a stronger positive effect for processing fluency on the dependent variable: the number of ideas they listed in a task they continued for as long as they enjoyed it.     

Measuring Narrative Engagement

Research indicates that the extent to which one becomes engaged, transported, or immersed in a narrative influences the narrative's potential to affect subsequent story-related attitudes and beliefs. Explaining narrative effects and understanding the mechanisms responsible depends on our ability to measure narrative engagement in a theoretically meaningful way. This article develops a scale for measuring narrative engagement that is based on a mental models approach to narrative processing. It distinguishes among four dimensions of experiential engagement in narratives: narrative understanding, attentional focus, emotional engagement, and narrative presence. The scale is developed and validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with data from viewers of feature film and television, in different viewing situations, and from two different countries. The scale's ability to predict enjoyment and story-consistent attitudes across different programs is presented. Implications for conceptualizing engagement with narratives as well as narrative persuasion and media effects are discussed.     

Sometimes stories sell: When are narrative appeals most likely to work?

Research has demonstrated that narratives can be effective in eliciting attitude change, especially when recipients become transported into the narrative. In three studies, we addressed whether some people are predisposed to be influenced by narratives and whether narrative and rhetorical appeals are differentially effective for different people. In Study 1, participants read an experimental or a control narrative, and completed measures of attitudes, need for affect (NFA), need for cognition (NFC), transportation, and transportability. The results revealed that NFA and NFC were positively correlated with transportation and transportability. In Study 2, participants read either a narrative appeal or a rhetorical appeal about cervical cancer and completed a measure of attitudes and the individual difference constructs. Study 3 was a replication of Study 2 using a different topic (organ donation). In both studies, the results revealed a consistent pattern of correlations among the individual difference measures. Further, we found that although the narrative and rhetorical appeals were judged to be of equal efficacy, the persuasiveness of the narrative appeal differed as function of individual differences in NFA and NFC. The implications for narrative persuasion are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations between narrative transportation,risk perception and behaviour intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer

Objective: Narrative messages may be an effective strategy to increase risk perceptions and motivate preventive behaviours related to cancer. The aim of this research was to examine associations between narrative transportation (i.e. psychological absorption into a narrative), risk perceptions, and intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer.

Design: In two studies, women who reported indoor tanning read first-person narrative messages about skin cancer. We examined associations between narrative transportation and the women’s responses to the narratives, including risk perceptions for skin cancer and behaviour intentions to reduce risk. Associations between transportation, knowledge and worry were also examined.

Results: Greater transportation was associated with higher intentions to perform skin self-examination, talk to one’s doctor about skin cancer, and look for more information. Greater transportation was also associated with higher gut feelings of risk and higher worry about skin cancer, but not deliberative risk perceptions or knowledge from the message. Additional analyses showed that after controlling for risk perception and worry, transportation had unique associations with some behaviour intentions.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that narrative transportation may be an important component to the persuasion of cancer narratives. Future research should explore ideas such as the role of the experiential system in narratives’ influence.     

决策过程中的调节匹配效应及其机制

以大学生为被试,运用实验法探讨了决策过程中调节定向与信息搜索模式之间的匹配效应及其机制。结果显示：(1) 促进定向组被试决策时更偏好基于属性的信息搜索模式,而预防定向组被试决策时更偏好基于选项的信息搜索模式;(2)当两种调节定向组被试分别使用各自所偏好的信息搜索模式制定决策时,达成了调节匹配,相比调节不匹配,这种匹配使被试对其所做选择给出了更积极的评价,即出现了调节匹配效应;(3)加工流畅性可以部分地解释这种调节匹配效应。     

'I quit' versus 'I'm sorry I used': A preliminary investigation of variations in narrative ending and transportation

A narrative experience can partly depend on how a narrative ends or concludes. This study examined prevention effects of personal drug use narratives varying by type of ending and gender of protagonist. Additionally, the role of transportation in the persuasion process, particularly the association between transportation and cocaine use intentions, both directly and indirectly, through the mediation of anti-drug and pro-drug expectancies was assessed. A total of 500 undergraduate students at a large northern university in the UK participated in the experiment which was a 2?×?2?×?2 mixed design with ending (progressive vs. regressive) and gender of protagonist (male vs. female) as within-participants factors and participant gender (male vs. female) as between-participants factors. The results demonstrated significant main effects for ending, gender of protagonist in the narrative and participant gender, but no interaction effects. Finally, greater transportation was associated with stronger anti-cocaine expectancies, which were further associated with lower cocaine use intentions. Important theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.     

叙事传输的说服机制

叙事传输是人们沉浸在故事情景中的独特心理过程,也是故事信息特有的说服机制.叙事传输会使决策者产生与现实世界脱离的感觉,体验到强烈的情绪,然后对故事产生认同,改变态度.本文在界定叙事加工、叙事传输等理论概念基础上,重点比较叙事传输与分析加工的差异,认为两者在信息内容组织、作用途径、判断逻辑、认知努力及问题距离上都有区别.进一步研究叙事传输与分析加工、自我控制、情景决策等理论领域的关系具有重要价值.     

Easier is not always better: The moderating role of processing type on preference fluency

Prior research has shown that preference fluency (i.e., the subjective feeling that forming a preference is easy or difficult) systematically influences consumer choices. When deciding on an option feels difficult, or requires effort, consumers are likely to select a different option or defer the decision. We find that under conditions of narrative processing, difficulty in processing can actually improve preferences because more effort leads to more transportation, or immersion, into the story, thus enhancing brand evaluations. Three experiments demonstrate that the effect of preference fluency reverses when consumers think about a brand as part of a story.     

The Psychology of Tailoring‐Ingredients in Computer‐Tailored Persuasion

Persuasive information can be tailored to individual characteristics using computer technology. Computer technology offers three ways to persuade people: adaptation, personalization, and feedback. Adaptation refers to the match between the type or the formulation of the persuasive arguments or recommendations and an individual's psychological state. Personalization refers to the incorporation of one or more recognizable individual characteristics (e.g., one's first name) in a persuasive text. Feedback refers to providing the individual with information about him or her that relates to important individual goals. These visible elements in a persuasive message are the tailoring‐ingredients of computer‐tailored persuasion. The present article focuses on explaining how these tailoring‐ingredients influence persuasion, using existing social psychological insights in human functioning and persuasion. The persuasive effects of the tailoring‐ingredients can be explained partly by different psychological processes.     

Narrative in psychotherapy theory,practice, and research: A critical review

This paper offers a critical review of narrative approaches to therapy, in terms of theory, practice and research. It proposes that narrative approaches currently lack a theory that explains adequately how the reworking of narratives brings about changes and how a client's various narratives are integrated. Research approaches to the study of narrative in therapy are at an early stage. A review of current research into narrative approaches to therapy is presented, and suggestions are offered for further research.     

‘I quit’ versus ‘I’m sorry I used’: A preliminary investigation of variations in narrative ending and transportation

A narrative experience can partly depend on how a narrative ends or concludes. This study examined prevention effects of personal drug use narratives varying by type of ending and gender of protagonist. Additionally, the role of transportation in the persuasion process, particularly the association between transportation and cocaine use intentions, both directly and indirectly, through the mediation of anti-drug and pro-drug expectancies was assessed. A total of 500 undergraduate students at a large northern university in the UK participated in the experiment which was a 2?×?2?×?2 mixed design with ending (progressive vs. regressive) and gender of protagonist (male vs. female) as within-participants factors and participant gender (male vs. female) as between-participants factors. The results demonstrated significant main effects for ending, gender of protagonist in the narrative and participant gender, but no interaction effects. Finally, greater transportation was associated with stronger anti-cocaine expectancies, which were further associated with lower cocaine use intentions. Important theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.     

Enhancing Family Resilience Through Family Narrative Co-construction

We draw upon family resilience and narrative theory to describe an evidence-based method for intervening with military families who are impacted by multiple wartime deployments and psychological, stress-related, or physical parental injuries. Conceptual models of familial resilience provide a guide for understanding the mechanics of how families respond and recover from exposure to extreme events, and underscore the role of specific family processes and interaction patterns in promoting resilient capabilities. Leading family theorists propose that the family’s ability to make meaning of stressful and traumatic events and nurture protective beliefs are critical aspects of resilient adaptation. We first review general theoretical and empirical research contributions to understanding family resilience, giving special attention to the circumstances, challenges, needs, and strengths of American military families. Therapeutic narrative studies illustrate the processes through which family members acquire meaning-making capacities, and point to the essential role of parents’ in facilitating discussions of stressful experiences and co-constructing coherent and meaningful narratives. This helps children to make sense of these experiences and develop capacities for emotion regulation and coping. Family-based narrative approaches provide a structured opportunity to elicit parents’ and children’s individual narratives, assemble divergent storylines into a shared family narrative, and thereby enhance members’ capacity to make meaning of stressful experiences and adopt beliefs that support adaptation and growth. We discuss how family narratives can help to bridge intra-familial estrangements and re-engage communication and support processes that have been undermined by stress, trauma, or loss. We conclude by describing a family-based narrative intervention currently in use with thousands of military children and families across the USA.     

Narrative Persuasion,Transportation, and the Role of Need for Cognition in Online Viewing of Fantastical Films

Two studies examine narrative persuasion in the context of fantastical narratives viewed on a computer. In Study 1, participants (N = 160) used a personal computer to watch one of two short films that dealt with a contemporary social issue (privacy or the environment) set in an imaginary future. Neither film resulted in those who viewed it holding stronger story-consistent beliefs. However, viewers of the film about privacy who experienced higher levels of transportation were more likely to possess story-consistent privacy beliefs than those less transported or than viewers of the environmental film. Additionally, higher need for cognition was associated with stronger beliefs and intentions across both films, and viewers of the privacy film who were higher in need for cognition were most likely to endorse story-consistent privacy beliefs, perhaps due to extra cognitive effort demanded by the online delivery mode of the narrative. To explore this, in Study 2 (N = 126), participants were shown the privacy-themed film in either a low or high distraction condition. This successfully manipulated transportation, but in high distraction conditions, transportation was not significantly related to endorsement of story-consistent beliefs.     

Adult attachment and transportation into narrative worlds

Adult attachment affects close bonds, including bonds with fictional characters, but does it also influence the level of engagement with fictional worlds? This article aims to build on previous research on how attachment relates to narrative transportation. In Study 1, attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance, predicted a greater tendency to become transported into narratives, even after controlling for broader personality traits related to attachment. In Study 2, attachment anxiety again predicted a greater tendency to engage in narratives but only at high levels of attachment avoidance. In Study 3, this interaction between attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance in predicting narrative transportation was again observed when transportation was measured immediately after viewing a specific narrative.     

Self-Control Depletion and Narrative: Testing a Prediction of the TEBOTS Model

This study tests propositions derived from the larger notion that entertainment narratives offer the individual a means by which to alleviate the psychological demands of the self. Specifically, individuals in a state of reduced self-control were expected to experience greater enjoyment, audience response, transportation, and identification during narrative exposure. After a manipulation that depleted self-control resources, participants were exposed to a short story. They then reported their enjoyment and response to the story, as well as their transportation and identification during reading. Results supported the predictions, as enjoyment, audience response, and transportation were significantly greater in the depleted group. Identification showed a nonsignificant difference. Additionally, transportation was found to be a mediator of self-control depletion's effect on enjoyment. Subsequent analyses ruled out alternative mood management and emotion regulation explanations, demonstrating that depleted self-control resources, rather than affect or story valence, accounted for greater narrative engagement.     

An Aesthetic Review of New Mothers as the Ultimate Weaver: Achieving a Harmonious Integration of Prevalent Discourses and Lived Experience

Experiences in new motherhood are influenced by popular sociological discourses and ideologies. The narratives promoted in these discourses may or may not fit with the subjective experience of the mother. Lacking experience in motherhood, the new mother may misguidedly accept these mainstream discourses and ideologies as standard. The process of adapting and blending sociological narratives to fit with lived experience is similar to the art of weaving. This article, an original argument grounded in relevant literature, explores how new mothers can develop a balanced weave of popular social discourse and her subjective experience by: accepting motherhood as a creative process, being aware of the powerful influence of social constructs on her perceptions, and recognizing the influence of her body/biology on her lived experience. The aesthetic narrative of the spider, the ultimate weaver, accompanies the research presented. Complementary art therapy interventions such as weaving, art boxes, and dolls are discussed.