This Story Is Not for Everyone: Transportability and Narrative Persuasion

Across two studies, the authors examined the role of individual differences in transportability, the tendency to become transported into narratives, in predicting the degree of attitude change resulting from persuasive narratives. In Study 1 (N = 137), participants were persuaded by a story promoting tolerance toward homosexuals only to the extent that they self-rated as highly transportable. In Study 2 (N = 298), this finding was replicated using the topic of affirmative action. Study 2 further showed that the effects of transportability were unique to narratives and did not extend to rhetorical communications. Across both studies, the link between transportability and attitudes was found to be mediated by emotional, empathic responses as opposed to rationalistic appraisals. The theoretical and applied implications of this work are discussed.