Can fictional stories beat the congeniality bias? Selective exposure to fiction and non-fiction.
People prefer attitude-consistent information over attitude-inconsistent information (congeniality bias). Connecting theory on the processing of stories to selective exposure theory, we assumed that the congeniality bias is reduced or even nullified when it comes to fictional messages. Across two ex...
| Publicado en: | Human Communication Research Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 161 - 176 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jun2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195378209&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195378209 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03603989 HUC jtl: Human Communication Research issn: 03603989 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 52 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195378209 10.1093/hcr/hqaf027 ppf: 161 ppct: 15 formats: tig: atl: Can fictional stories beat the congeniality bias? Selective exposure to fiction and non-fiction. aug: au: Appel, Markus Gabel, Juliane Wimmer, Lena Klöppel, Marieke Richter, Tobias affil: Human-Computer-Media Institute, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, Germany Human-Computer-Media Institute, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, GermanyInstitute for Market-Based Management, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany Human-Computer-Media Institute, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, Germany Institute of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, Germany su: Attitude-behavior consistency Selective exposure Fiction Narration Nonfiction sug: subj: Attitude-behavior consistency Selective exposure Fiction Narration Nonfiction keyword: attitude confirmation bias congeniality bias copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 fiction inLanguage:en narrative discourse narratives publisher:Oxford University Press refugees sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf027 selective exposure attitude confirmation bias congeniality bias copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 fiction inLanguage:en narrative discourse narratives publisher:Oxford University Press refugees sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf027 selective exposure ab: People prefer attitude-consistent information over attitude-inconsistent information (congeniality bias). Connecting theory on the processing of stories to selective exposure theory, we assumed that the congeniality bias is reduced or even nullified when it comes to fictional messages. Across two experiments examining two different, polarizing topics (refugees, N = 1,326; theistic faith, N = 1,316) a highly consistent pattern of results could be observed: Participants were more willing to read a narrative message (exposure preference) in which the story events were in line with their attitudes rather than a message contrasting attitudes. This congeniality bias was unaffected by the fictionality of the information (i.e. whether the events were introduced as a fictional short story or a non-fictional journalistic reportage). Interestingly, the congeniality bias emerged for positive characterizations of refugees or theistic faith but not for negative characterizations. Implications regarding the role of fictionality and congeniality in selective exposure are discussed. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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