Embodiment of Narrative Engagement

Abstract

Abstract. This study investigated the validity of the narrative engagement scale ( Busselle & Bilandzic, 2009 ) by grounding the dimensions of the scale in relationships between self-reported narrative engagement and embodied mental processes occurring during exposure. Psychophysiological measures were used to observe real-time variation in mental processes activated when individuals viewed narrative content that was manipulated in two fundamental content characteristics: cohesion and emotional content. The results of a 2 (low vs. high cohesion) × 2 (low vs. high emotional content) × 3 (video clips) mixed model repeated measures experiment showed consistent influences of cohesion and emotional content on self-reported narrative engagement as well as psychophysiological indicators (heart rate, skin conductance, corrugator activity). Confirming the hypotheses, self-reported attentional focus was related to lower levels of heart rate, while self-reported emotional engagement was positively related to corrugator activity. Both attentional focus and emotional engagement were related to increases of skin conductance levels over time. The results support the validity of the dimensional concept of narrative engagement and open further avenues for clarifying mechanisms of narrative persuasion.

Cinematic virtual reality: Evaluating the effect of display type on the viewing experience for panoramic video

“…While this technique uses a questionnaire-based approach, physiological monitoring has been used to validate the self-reported narrative engagement scale [41].…”

Content and person effects in media research: Studying differences in cognitive, emotional, and arousal responses to media content

“…For example, not only may stronger emotional responses evoke differential patterns of cognitive responses, but a particular combination of cognitive, emotional, and/or arousal responses may even designate a qualitatively different response state (e.g., attentional, automatic, or transported, Potter, 2008) that our individual response outcomes did not tap into. More work is needed to understand how combinations of responses may reflect a theoretically relevant "higher-order" response states (e.g., enjoyment or engagement, Sukalla, Bilandzic, Bolls, & Busselle, 2016), which could then be investigated in relation to relevant individual differences.…”

Empowering Stories: Transportation into Narratives with Strong Protagonists Increases Self-Related Control Beliefs

“…Green and Brock (2000) developed a retrospective self-report scale that captures transportation in all of these facets, of which Appel, Gnambs, Richter, and Green (2015) devised a short form with comparable reliability despite a reduced number of items. These scales are, to date, the only reliable tools to comprehensively measure the construct of transportation, although means of measuring aspects of transportation concurrently and objectively are currently being explored (e.g., Bezdek & Gerrig, 2017;Hartung, Burke, Hagoort, & Willems, 2016;Sukalla, Bilandzic, Bolls, & Busselle, 2016).…”

“…It would be preferable in future studies to empirically test the assumed temporal sequence by measuring transportation concurrently during exposure to the narrative. Methods for doing so are being explored, but it must be noted that none of the measures used so far are able to comprehensively capture the phenomenon of transportation, only aspects of it (e.g., the attentional or emotional components; Bezdek & Gerrig, 2017;Hartung et al, 2016;Sukalla et al, 2016), and their relationships to self-reported transportation are sometimes inconsistent (e.g., Hartung et al, 2016). Nonetheless, it seems desirable for future research to further explore the usefulness of such measures and eventually overcome the limitations imposed by retrospective self-report measures of media experiences.…”