Cover not available
Part of
Narrative Absorption
Edited by Frank Hakemulder, Moniek M. Kuijpers, Ed S. Tan, Katalin Bálint and Miruna M. Doicaru
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 27] 2017
► pp. 271–292

Chapter 13
The role of absorption processes in narrative health communication

 | Radboud University Nijmegen
 | Trimbos Institute for Mental Health and Addiction
This chapter reviews the research area of absorption in narrative health impact. First, we elaborate on theoretical models that describe how absorption processes may lead to story-consistent outcomes, such as health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Then, we discuss empirical studies that test the role of absorption in narrative health impact. In this research area, theory and research converge that absorption into narratives is associated with health-related outcomes. Absorption processes like transportation and identification can be related to narrative health impact through a reduction of counter arguing, but other types of thoughts likely compensate for this reduction. In addition, self-referencing has been identified as a process that can play a role in narrative health impact. This review underscores the unique potential for absorption into narrative worlds to have an impact on healthy behavior.
Keywords: narrative health communication, transportation, identification, counter arguing, elaboration, self-referencing, vicarious experience
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Absorption and models of narrative health communication
  • 3.The relation of transportation and identification to narrative impact
  • 4.Reduced resistance as a consequence of absorption
  • 5.The relation between absorption and self-referencing
  • 6.Moving forward: Implications and future research
  • References
Published online: 9 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.27.14deg
References (52)
References
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behavior. In D. Albarracin, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp. 173–221). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Appel, M., & Richter, T. (2010). Transportation and need for affect in narrative persuasion: A mediated moderation model. Media Psychology, 13(2), 101–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
(2004). Social cognitive theory for personal and social change by enabling media. In A. Singhal, M. J. Cody, E. M. Rogers, & M. Sabido (Eds.), Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice (pp. 75–96). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575–582. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, S. C., & Greene, K. (2012). Role of transportation in the persuasion process: Cognitive and affective responses to antidrug narratives. Journal of Health Communication, 17(5), 564–581. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). Examining narrative transportation to anti-alcohol narratives. Journal of Substance Use, 18(3), 196–210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Braverman, J. (2008). Testimonials versus informational persuasive messages: The moderating effect of delivery mode and personal involvement. Communication Research, 35(5), 666–694. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burnkrant, R. E., & Unnava, H. R. (1989). Self-referencing: A strategy for increasing processing of message content. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 628–638. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1995). Effects of self-referencing on persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, 17–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Busselle, R., & Bilandzic, H. (2008). Fictionality and perceived realism in experiencing stories: A model of narrative comprehension and engagement. Communication Theory, 18(2), 255–280. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009). Measuring narrative engagement. Media Psychology, 12(4), 321–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Caputo, N. M., & Rouner, D. (2011). Narrative processing of entertainment media and mental illness stigma. Health Communication, 26(7), 595–604. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. (2001). Defining identification: A theoretical look at the identification of audiences with media characters. Mass Communication & Society, 4(3), 245–264. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, E. L. (2016). Exploring subtext processing in narrative persuasion: The role of eudaimonic entertainment-use motivation and a supplemental conclusion scene. Communication Quarterly. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dal Cin, S., Gibson, B., Zanna, M. P., Shumate, R., & Fong, G. T. (2007). Smoking in movies, implicit associations of smoking with the self, and intentions to smoke. Psychological Science, 18(7), 559–563. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dal Cin, S., Zanna, M. P., & Fong, G. T. (2004). Narrative persuasion and overcoming resistance. In E. S. Knowles (Ed.), Resistance and persuasion. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
De Graaf, A. (2014). The effectiveness of adaptation of the protagonist in narrative impact: Similarity influences health beliefs through self-referencing. Human Communication Research, 40(1), 73–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dunlop, S. M., Wakefield, M., & Kashima, Y. (2010). Pathways to persuasion: Cognitive and experiential responses to health-promoting mass media messages. Communication Research, 37(1), 133–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, M. C. (2006). Narratives and cancer communication. Journal of Communication, 56, S163–183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 701–721. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002). In the mind’s eye: Transportation-imagery model of narrative persuasion. In T. C. Brock, J. J. Strange & M. C. Green (Eds.), Narrative impact: Social and cognitive foundations (pp. 315–341). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Green, M. C., Brock, T. C., & Kaufman, G. F. (2004). Understanding media enjoyment: The role of transportation into narrative worlds. Communication Theory, 14(4), 311–327. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, M. C., Garst, J., & Brock, T. C. (2004). The power of fiction: Determinants and boundaries. In: L. J. Shrum (Ed.) The Psychology of Entertainment Media: Blurring the Lines Between Entertainment and Persuasion (pp. 161–176). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Green, M. C., Kass, S., Carrey, J., Herzig, B., Feeney, R., & Sabini, J. (2008). Transportation across media: Repeated exposure to print and film. Media Psychology, 11(4), 512–539. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1464. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoeken, H., & Fikkers, K. M. (2014). Issue-relevant thinking and identification as mechanisms of narrative persuasion. Poetics, 44, 84–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Igartua, J. J., & Vega Casanova, J. (2016). Identification with characters, elaboration, and counterarguing in entertainment-education interventions through audiovisual fiction. Journal of Health Communication, 21(3), 293–300. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keer, M., van den Putte, B., de Wit, J. & Neijens, P. (2013). The effects of integrating instrumental and affective arguments in rhetorical and testimonial health messages. Journal of Health Communication, 18(9), 1148–1161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knowles, E. S., & Linn, J. A. (Eds.). (2004). Resistance and persuasion. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Larsen, S. F., & Seilman, U. (1988). Personal remindings while reading literature. Text, 8, 411–429. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halász, L. (1991). Emotional effect and reminding in literary processing. Poetics, 20(3), 247–272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mar, R. A., & Oatley, K. (2008). The function of fiction is the abstraction and simulation of social experience. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 173–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McDonald, D. G., Sarge, M. A., Lin, S. F., Collier, J. G., & Potocki, B. (2015). A role for the self: Media content as triggers for involuntary autobiographical memories. Communication Research, 42(1), 3–29. DOI logo.Google Scholar
McKeever, R. (2015). Vicarious experience: Experimentally testing the effects of empathy for media characters with severe depression and the intervening role of perceived similarity, Health Communication, 30(11), 1122–1134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McQueen, A., Kreuter, M. W., Kalesan, B., & Alcaraz, K. I. (2011). Understanding narrative effects: The impact of breast cancer survivor stories on message processing, attitudes, and beliefs among African American women. Health Psychology, 30(6), 674–682. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morgan, S. E., Movius, L., & Cody, M. J. (2009). The power of narratives: The effect of entertainment television organ donation storylines on the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of donors and non-donors. Journal of Communication, 59(1), 135–151. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moyer-Gusé. (2008). Toward a theory of entertainment persuasion: Explaining the persuasive effects of entertainment-education messages. Communication Theory, 18, 407–425. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moyer-Gusé, E., Chung, A. H., & Jain, P. (2011). Identification with characters and discussion of taboo topics after exposure to an entertainment narrative about sexual health. Journal of Communication, 61(3), 387–406. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moyer-Gusé, E., & Nabi, R. L. (2010). Explaining the effects of narrative in an entertainment television program: Overcoming resistance to persuasion. Human Communication Research, 36, 26–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murphy, S., Frank, L. B., Chatterjee, J. S., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2013). Narrative versus nonnarative: The role of identification, transportation, and emotion in reducing health disparities. Journal of Communication, 63(1), 116–137. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murphy, S. T., Frank, L. B., Moran, M. B., & Patnoe-Woodley, P. (2011). Involved, transported, or emotional? exploring the determinants of change in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in entertainment-education. Journal of Communication, 61, 407–431. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New York, NY: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Powe, B. D., & Finnie, R. (2003). Cancer fatalism: The state of the science. Cancer nursing, 26(6), 454–467. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Prentice, D. A., & Gerrig, R. J. (1999). Exploring the boundary between fiction and reality. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (eds.), Dual-process theories in social psychology (pp. 529–546). New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Richter, T., Appel, M., & Calio, F. (2014). Stories can influence the self-concept. Social Influence, 9(3), 172–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sestir, M., & Green, M. C. (2010). You are who you watch: Identification and transportation effects on temporary self-concept. Social Influence, 5(4), 272–288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Slater, M. D., & Rouner, D. (2002). Entertainment-education and elaboration likelihood: Understanding the processing of narrative persuasion. Communication Theory, 12(2), 173–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
So, J., & Nabi, R. (2013). Reduction of perceived social distance as an explanation for media’s influence on personal risk perceptions: A test of the risk convergence model. Human Communication Research, 39(3), 317–338. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stavrositu, C. D., & Kim, J. (2015). All blogs are not created equal: The role of narrtive formats and user-generated comments in health prevention. Health Communication, 30(5), 485–495. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Leeuwen, L., van den Putte, B., Renes, R. J., & Leeuwis, C. (2016). Do narrative engagement and recipients’ thoughts explain the impact of an entertainment-education narrative on discouraging binge drinking? Media Psychology. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

Hong, Fu-Yuan
2024. Structural Equation Model Analysis of Taiwanese Teenagers’ Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Live Stream Watching. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction 40:19 ► pp. 6091 ff. DOI logo
Igartua, Juan-José, Alejandro González-Vázquez & Carlos Arcila-Calderón
2024. The Effect of Similarity to a Transitional Role Model of an Entertainment–Education Narrative Designed to Improve Attitudes Toward Immigrants: Evidence from Three European Countries. Media Psychology 27:2 ► pp. 211 ff. DOI logo
de Graaf, Anneke
2023. The role of identification and self-referencing in narrative persuasion. Communications 48:2 ► pp. 163 ff. DOI logo
Igartua, Juan-José & Diego Cachón-Ramón
2023. Personal narratives to improve attitudes towards stigmatized immigrants: A parallel-serial mediation model. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 26:1 ► pp. 96 ff. DOI logo
Ready, Jonathan L.
2023. Immersion, Identification, and the Iliad, DOI logo
Siegenthaler, Perina, Tanja Aegerter & Andreas Fahr
2023. A Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Parasocial Relationships and Breakups With Characters of a Health-Related TV Show on Self-Efficacy and Exercise Behavior: The Case of The Biggest Loser. Communication & Sport 11:4 ► pp. 744 ff. DOI logo
Igartua, Juan-José & Iñigo Guerrero-Martín
2022. Personal migrant stories as persuasive devices: Effects of audience–character similarity and narrative voice. Journal of Social and Political Psychology 10:1 ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Moyer-Gusé, Emily, Kara Rader & Simon Lavis
2022. Transportation into an Entertainment Narrative about the MMR Vaccine: An Investigation of Self-Referencing and Issue-Related Thoughts in Narrative Persuasion. Journal of Health Communication 27:8 ► pp. 585 ff. DOI logo
Siegenthaler, Perina, Andreas Fahr & Alexander Ort
2021. The effects of different narrative structures in public service announcements on transportation and counterarguing. Information Design Journal 26:3 ► pp. 216 ff. DOI logo
Kim, Hyang-Sook & Kyongseok Kim
2020. Open Captioning as a Means of Communicating Health Information: The Role of Cognitive Load in Processing Entertainment-Education Content. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 64:3 ► pp. 519 ff. DOI logo
Lugea, Jane
2018. The year’s work in stylistics 2017. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 27:4 ► pp. 329 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.