Narrative Persuasion Across the Aisle: Mechanisms of Engagement With Discordant Characters

A set of two experiments examined the effect of a narrative depicting either a concordant or a discordant character whose position on gun control was either central (Study 1: N= 153) or peripheral (Study 2: N = 654) to the storyline. Four potential mechanisms of narrative persuasion (perceived similarity, identification, transportation, and counterarguing), two relevant narrative devices (transparency and placement), and audience characteristics (trait empathy) were considered. Results suggest that exposure to a discordant character bolsters readers’ pre-existing beliefs, with counterarguing driving the effect. However, empathetic individuals are more receptive to counter-attitudinal information, albeit only when the controversial topic is peripheral to the story.