Stories are known to be powerful persuasive devices. Stories can capture attention, evoke emotion, and entrance listeners in a manner that reduces resistance to a message. Given the powerful persuasive potential of stories, one might deduce that it is best to embed one’s facts within a story. In contrast to this perspective, the present research suggests that coupling facts with stories can either enhance or undermine persuasion. Specifically, to understand when facts benefit from the use of stories, this work provides a deeper examination of how counterargument reduction—a common explanation for the unique persuasive capabilities of stories—operates. Across three experiments, evidence is found for when it is more effective to embed facts within a story versus to use facts alone.

To avoid threats to the self, people shun comparisons with similar—yet immoral, mentally unstable, or otherwise negatively viewed—others. Despite this prevalent perspective, we consider a contrarian question: Can people be attracted to darker versions of themselves? We propose that with self-threat assuaged, similarity signals self-relevance, which draws people toward those who are similar to them despite negative characteristics. To test this general idea, we explored a prevalent context that may offer a safe haven from self-threat: stories. Using a large-scale proprietary data set from a company with over 232,000 registered users, we demonstrated that people have a preference for villains—unambiguously negative individuals—who are similar to themselves, which suggests that people are attracted to such comparisons in everyday life. Five subsequent lab experiments ( N = 1,685) demonstrated when and why similarity results in attraction toward—rather than repulsion from—negative others.

Perinephric hematomas occur in nearly one-third of patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomies but are extensive only 11% of the time. Hematomas are not associated with an increased incidence of clinically relevant complications. There does not appear to be any indication for serial imaging during hospitalization or at 3-month follow-up.

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