Tolerance of Perceived Unrealness: Conceptualization, Measurement, Persuasive Effect - An Update

• In Event: New Measures, New Methods, and New Theories II

Abstract

Tolerance of perceived unrealness is increasingly seen as an important mechanism in the processing of narratives when it comes to explaining enjoyment and the persuasive outcomes of the reception of stories. However, current research focusses only on either the perception of unrealness (i.e., salience of violations of realism) or tolerance of such violations. Therefore, this study explicates how salience and tolerance can be integrated conceptually to reflect suspension of disbelief (SOD) as tolerance of perceived unrealness, it proposes a new way of measuring SOD, and it explores SOD’s role in narrative persuasion. The results show that salience and tolerance are related linearly negative, and that there is a curvilinear relationship between the integrated measure of SOD and the story-consistency of beliefs after the reception of stories that imply certain beliefs. Thus, the study contributes to theorizing about SOD, and it complements existing knowledge on narrative persuasion.

Author

• Patrick Weber, U of Hohenheim