Seeing is relieving: effects of serious storytelling with images on interview performance anxiety

Abstract

Serious storytelling as a media genre has the potential to accentuate the benefits of narrative interventions in health and education. To inform its application, it is necessary to identify effects of sensory inputs. Here, we focus on visual stimuli and observe their effects on an anxiety condition. We examine whether serious storytelling incorporating images, a type of basic visual stimuli, may reduce interview performance anxiety. In a double-blind randomised control trial, 69 participants with matched levels of anxiety received serious storytelling interview training and were allocated to exposure (image-based preparation) and control (standard preparation) groups. A week later, participants attended individual interviews with two independent interviewers and reported their interview anxiety. Analyses revealed a positive relationship between generalised anxiety and some dimensions of interview anxiety, but serious storytelling with images predicted a reduction in interview performance anxiety (effect size at the median value of covariates on a visual analogue scale with the range 0–100: -36.7, 95% CI [−54.7, −2.5]). Low participation burden in the brief intervention was confirmed through a deductive thematic analysis. The images were analysed based on format type and origin to inform further inquiries. This study yielded empirical findings with implications of media and technology development for serious storytelling. Seeing images of experiences during interview preparation was associated with a relief of interviewees’ anxiety towards interview performance, but further studies are necessary to consolidate the evidence for visual narrative applications in health and education.

Stories of employability: improving interview narratives with image-supported past-behaviour storytelling training

“…The serious storytelling (SS) training and serious storytelling with images (SSWI) intervention - (Lin-Stephens, 2020a;Lin-Stephens et al, 2022) were put in place to evaluate ET interview narratives in the conditions of baseline, repeat, SS training and SSWI intervention. Four measurements were made.…”

“…Images, a basic and highly accessible visual artefact, have been used as a baseline visual stimulus to facilitate serious storytelling (Lin-Stephens, 2020a;Lin-Stephens et al, 2022). Images are two-dimensional visual artefacts that may include photos, pictures, clip art, paintings and drawings.…”

“…Images, a basic and highly accessible visual artefact, have been used as a baseline visual stimulus to facilitate serious storytelling (Lin-Stephens, 2020a; Lin-Stephens et al. , 2022).…”