Department of Communication, University of Kentucky.
Health Commun. 2024 Apr;39(4):818-827. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2185926. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
Guided by narrative transportation theory and the social identity approach, this study examined the effects of character accent on perceived similarity, transportation, and narrative persuasion. Cigarette smokers from Kentucky ( = 492) listened to a first-person narrative about smoking-induced lung cancer. The character spoke either with a Southern American English (SAE; ingroup) or a General American English (GAE; outgroup) accent. Opposite to predictions, the GAE-accented character was perceived as more similar overall, engendered greater transportation, elevated lung cancer risk perceptions, and promoted higher intentions to quit smoking than the SAE-accented character. Consistent with predictions, the effects of character accent on risk perceptions and intentions to quit were mediated by perceived similarity and transportation. Taken together, these findings indicate that narrative character accent is a potent cue to similarity judgments, but that actual linguistic similarity is not isomorphic with perceived overall similarity. Theoretical and practical implications for narrative persuasion are discussed.
本研究以叙述性迁移理论和社会认同理论为指导，考察了角色口音对感知相似性、迁移和叙述说服力的影响。肯塔基州的吸烟者（ = 492）聆听了一个关于吸烟导致肺癌的第一人称叙述。角色使用的是南方美式英语（SAE；内群体）或通用美式英语（GAE；外群体）口音。与预测相反，GAE 口音的角色总体上被认为更相似，产生了更大的迁移，提高了肺癌风险感知，并促进了更高的戒烟意愿，而 SAE 口音的角色则不然。与预测一致的是，角色口音对风险感知和戒烟意愿的影响是通过感知相似性和迁移来介导的。总的来说，这些发现表明，叙述性角色口音是相似性判断的有力线索，但实际的语言相似性与整体感知相似性并不相同。讨论了叙述性说服的理论和实践意义。
