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According to the influence of presumed media influence hypothesis, people estimate the potential effects of media on other people and change their attitudes or behaviors as a consequence. In recent years, many studies offered some support for this idea. However, a central limitation of these studies is that all of them utilized correlational methodology and thus do not offer a valid way to infer causality. The current research examined the causal direction in the influence of presumed media influence using experimental methodology. In Study 1, the authors manipulated the perceived influence of watching pornography and measured the effects of this manipulation on support for censorship. In Study 2, perceptions regarding the influence of a news story about an expected shortage in sugar were manipulated indirectly, by manipulating the perceived exposure to the news story, and behavioral intentions resulting from the story were consequently measured. In both studies, results supported the causal direction postulated by the “presumed influence” hypothesis.

In 2 studies, we explored the effects of transportation and identification on attitudes following exposure to relevant and controversial 2-sided narratives. Participants read a story featuring 2 protagonists who held 2 opposing positions about a provocative issue. In Study 1, we manipulated identification and found that identification with the concordant character tended to polarize attitudes whereas identification with the discordant character tempered attitudes. In Study 2, we manipulated transportation and found that it moderated pre-exposure attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of the differences between these processes and their effects, and the potential use of narratives to moderate attitudes even in the context of highly charged conflicts.The power of narratives to engage minds, affect attitudes, and influence behavior has now been firmly established within communication research. That is, engaging stories that feature characters with whom audiences identify can help audience members adopt attitudes centrally contained in these stories. Growing out of a tradition of entertainment-education (E-E), studies focused on demonstrating the viability and effectiveness of persuasive narratives (e.g., using contraceptives in developing cultures; Rogers et al., 1999) but were less interested in examining the psychological mechanisms underlying narrative persuasion.In contrast, the more current research on narrative persuasion has been working to systematically uncover the mechanisms that make narratives an especially effective way to change attitudes and behaviors. Two mechanisms that have been identified

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