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The Fantasy Self: Relationships between Self-Guides and Experience-Taking in Fictional Narratives

Beauchamp, Alexandra L.
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1155-2049
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1471875575

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Experimental Psychology (Arts and Sciences).
In a narrative, individuals construct a relationship between the self and the main character. Through the self-character relationship construction individuals increase experience-taking, adopt attributes of a character, and elicit changes to readers’ attitudes and behavior. However, not all characters invoke an easy sense of immersion, with some characters possessing attributes unrealistic in the real world. When a character possesses traits the reader does not, application of the ideal self to the experience-taking process is less appropriate. This study hypothesizes when a character’s existence is not discrepant from a reader’s reality, the reader uses the ideal self to determine experience-taking. However, in highly fantastical stories instead of mapping ideal self-attributes on to the character, readers map who they would be in a fantasy world, a fantasy self. Two studies were conducted examining these hypotheses. Results from study one support the idea for a differing fantasy self related to experience-taking, where fantasy-self discrepancies were positively related to experience-taking. Study two showed a significant interaction of story realism and fantasy-self discrepancy magnitude on experience-taking. In the realistic story, larger fantasy-self discrepancy magnitudes were negatively related to greater experience-taking. The discussion examines the role of perceived realism in determining use of the fantasy self and the role of fantasy-self discrepancies in narrative immersion.
Keith Markman (Committee Chair)
Kimberly Rios (Committee Member)
Mark Alicke (Committee Member)
89 p.
Psychology; Social Psychology
narratives; fiction; experience-taking; perceived realism; fantasy self

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Beauchamp, A. L. (2016). The Fantasy Self: Relationships between Self-Guides and Experience-Taking in Fictional Narratives [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1471875575

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Beauchamp, Alexandra. The Fantasy Self: Relationships between Self-Guides and Experience-Taking in Fictional Narratives. 2016. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1471875575.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Beauchamp, Alexandra. "The Fantasy Self: Relationships between Self-Guides and Experience-Taking in Fictional Narratives." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1471875575

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1471875575
869
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.