Predicting Narrative Enjoyment From Message Content and User Perceptions: The Role of Intuitions

• In Event: Issues in Narrative Research

Abstract

Independent coders rated the extent to which the content in eight narratives upheld/violated 11 different altruistic or egoistic intuitions. Before an experiment, an affect misattribution procedure (AMP) measured the salience of these intuitions in participants. Participants were randomly assigned to hear one of the eight narratives and rate liking. Next, they provided subjective perceptions of the extent to which content upheld/violated these intuitions. Analyses revealed that measures of both coded content and subjective perceptions of content accounted for unique variance in liking. Furthermore, intuition salience (AMP scores) moderated the impact of both measures such that intuition salience increased the extent to which both content and subjective perceptions predicted liking. Analyses suggested that both content and subjective perception of content play important roles in liking. The value of these altruistic and egoistic intuitions for understanding individual differences in the perception and appraisal of narratives is discussed.

Authors

• Ron Tamborini, Michigan State U

• Sujay Prabhu, Michigan State U

• Lindsay S Hahn, Michigan State University

• Pat Idzik, Michigan State U

• Di Pei, Michigan State U

• Sangwon Lee, Michigan State U