Can stories change us?
We often hear that storytelling holds the power to sway elections, shape health outcomes, and even recruit people into extremist movements.1 Academia, politicians, and businesses alike all attempt to use narratives to their advantage. The catch is, scientifically speaking, there is still a lot of uncertainty about whether communicating a narrative will actually persuade your audience. Despite its widespread use, a key question remains: Does telling a story actually change what people think, feel, or do?
In a 2016 meta-analysis published in Communication Monographs, researchers Kurt Braddock and James Price Dillard examined 74 studies to determine whether exposure to a narrative produces a “story-consistent” change in belief, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, or not.2
In short, Braddock and Dillard found that exposure to narratives influenced beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors in ways that aligned with the story’s message. Although the study was not conducted with behavioral scientists specifically in mind, many of its insights are relevant to our field, particularly if narratives can be shown to produce similar effects in applied behavioral interventions.
But it’s important to retain some skepticism and not forget nuance. While the study reports positive overall effects, the role of fictionality was more complex, specifically regarding the different effects of fictional and nonfictional stories.
References
- Iguarta, J.-J. (2010). Identification with characters and narrative persuasion through fictional feature films. Communications, 35, 347–373. doi:10.1515/comm.2010.019
- Kurt Braddock & James Price Dillard (2016): Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, Communication Monographs, DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2015.1128555
- Braddock, K. (n.d.). Faculty profile. American University, School of Communication. https://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/braddock.cfm
- Dillard, J. P. (n.d.). Faculty profile. Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, CSSI. https://cssi.psu.edu/people/james-price-dillard/
- Kurt Braddock & James Price Dillard (2016): Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, Communication Monographs, DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2015.1128555
- Ibid
- Dubourg & Baumard (2023): Do Fictions Impact People's Beliefs? A Critical View. In book: The Routledge Handbook of Fiction and Belief (pp.141-158), DOI:10.4324/9781003119456-14
- Kurt Braddock & James Price Dillard (2016): Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, Communication Monographs, DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2015.1128555
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Banerjee, Abhijit, Eliana La Ferrara, and Victor H. Orozco-Olvera. 2019. “e Entertaining Way
- to Behavioral Change: Fighting HIV with MTV.” NBER Working Paper No. 26096.
- National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w26096
- Kurt Braddock & James Price Dillard (2016): Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, Communication Monographs, DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2015.1128555
About the Author
Juan Roa Duarte
Juan Roa is a Consultant at TDL. He has a background in philosophy and holds a Master’s in Public Policy from McGill University. Juan is passionate about education, public innovation, and peacebuilding. Specifically, he wants to use behavioural science and policy-making to tackle inequality and improve people’s lives worldwide. Before joining TDL, Juan was a Policy Advisor on Behavioural Change at Bogota’s Department of Transportation and a Senior Design Researcher at Corpovisionarios, a Colombian think-tank that pioneered applying a social norms approach to social change.
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