ERIC Number: EJ1396973
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0163-853X
EISSN: EISSN-1532-6950
Engagement with Narrative Characters: The Role of Social-Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Viewpoint
Eekhof, Lynn S.; van Krieken, Kobie; Sanders, José; Willems, Roel M.
Discourse Processes: A Multidisciplinary Journal, v60 n6 p411-439 2023
This article explores the role of text and reader characteristics in character engagement experiences. In an online study, participants completed several self-report and behavioral measures of social-cognitive abilities and read two literary narratives in which the presence of linguistic viewpoint markers was varied using a highly controlled manipulation strategy. Afterward, participants reported on their character engagement experiences. A principal component analysis on participants' responses revealed the multidimensional nature of character engagement, which included both self- and other-oriented emotional responses (e.g., empathy, personal distress) as well as more cognitive responses (e.g., identification, perspective taking). Furthermore, character engagement was found to rely on a wide range of social-cognitive abilities but not on the presence of viewpoint markers. Finally, and most importantly, we did not find convincing evidence for an interplay between social-cognitive abilities and the presence of viewpoint markers. These findings suggest that readers rely on their social-cognitive abilities to engage with the inner worlds of fictional others, more so than on the lexical cues of those inner worlds provided by the text.
Descriptors: Social Cognition, Cognitive Ability, Emotional Response, Reading Processes, Fiction, Narration, Reader Text Relationship, Empathy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A