The Role of Identification and Perception of Just Outcome in Evoking Emotions in Narrative Persuasion

Abstract

The question is addressed whether identification with a story character can evoke emotions that subsequently influence the audience's attitude. Study 1 (N = 145) manipulated identification and found it to influence the evoking of emotions as well as the audience's attitude. Study 2 (N = 115) examined whether emotions are evoked by the extent to which the story's outcome is perceived as just. The main character's culpability was manipulated thereby influencing the extent to which a bad ending was considered just. Mediation analyses attested to the greater importance of identification for evoking emotions compared to the perception of justice. The studies reveal the mediating role of emotions in narrative persuasion as well as how identification can evoke these emotions.

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