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Down the rabbit hole: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of identification with fictional characters

Kaufman, Geoff Francis
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1259601597

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Identification refers to the imaginative process of assuming the perspective and identity of a character in a work of fiction, which leads individuals to experience, through simulation, the events of a narrative as if they were a particular character and to take on that character’s thoughts, emotions, behaviors, goals, and traits, while in the story world. In this dissertation, I seek to redress the paucity of empirical research on identification by presenting eight studies investigating several of its fundamental antecedents and consequences for readers of literary fiction. In Chapter 1, results from two studies showed that versions of short stories that utilized first-person (versus third-person) narration, included references to a main character’s thoughts and feelings in response to story events, and featured a main character who shared a relevant group membership with readers, compared to versions of stories that lacked one or more of these elements, evoked higher levels of identification and greater adoption of a character’s intentions and behaviors. In Chapter 2, four studies investigated how readers’ level of self-concept accessibility impacts the extent to which they experience identification. Three studies demonstrated that a chronically or temporarily lowered state of self-concept accessibility increased, and a heightened state of self-concept accessibility decreased, readers’ levels of identification and incorporation of a character’s trait into their self-concepts. A fourth study revealed that if participants were placed in a negative state of self-reflection prior to reading a narrative, however, they reported higher levels of identification with a protagonist, perhaps stemming from the desire to escape the self. In Chapter 4, two studies explored the possibility that encouraging identification with characters who are members of stigmatized groups could be an effective means of reducing stereotypes and prejudice. Specifically, these studies showed that disclosing the stigmatized group membership of a character later, versus earlier, in a story led to comparatively higher levels of identification as well as lower levels of stereotype reliance in readers’ evaluations of the character and lower levels of prejudice toward the character’s group. In Chapter 5, I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings, differentiate identification from perspective-taking more generally, and propose a model of readers’ potentially dynamic responses to characters in literary fiction.
Lisa K. Libby (Advisor)
Richard E. Petty (Committee Member)
Kentaro Fujita (Committee Member)
158 p.
Communication; Psychology; Social Psychology
identification; fictional characters; audience responses; perspective-taking

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kaufman, G. F. (2009). Down the rabbit hole: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of identification with fictional characters [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1259601597

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kaufman, Geoff. Down the rabbit hole: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of identification with fictional characters. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1259601597.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kaufman, Geoff. "Down the rabbit hole: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of identification with fictional characters." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1259601597

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.