Actions Speak Louder than Words: How Characters’ Effectiveness as Message Sources Depend on Their Story Experiences

Once (but not twice) upon a time: Narrative inoculation against conjunction errors indirectly reduces conspiracy beliefs and improves truth discernment

“…While in some cases inoculation has been shown to confer psychological resistance to psychological change in contexts different from those outlined in the intervention (refutational‐ different ), the findings from our pilot study suggest that the narrative inoculation may have only indirectly reduced belief in conspiracies regarding government malfeasance because the protagonist was an FBI agent investigating a terrorist attack (refutational‐ same ). This is also in line with previous research showing that the source of narratives is an important factor in determining the efficacy of interventions (Russell et al, 2020). In fact, the government malfeasance GCBS sub‐scale includes an item stating that ‘The government permits or perpetrates acts of terrorism on its own soil, disguising its involvement’.…”

Social Networking Sites and Perceived Content Influence: An Exploratory Analysis from Focus Groups with French Adolescents

“…Whereas adolescents reported not validating their peers posting about themselves drinking or smoking, they were, at the same time, excusing these actions if taking place during particular occasions (e.g., family event, celebration). This perception associated with alcohol use, and misuse could be explained by the norms surrounding them within society, the family unit and also by the influence of messages integrated in traditional media [ 19 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. It is the same for tobacco products: fewer people are smoking, which could explain the disagreement of adolescents towards the people who present themselves with a cigarette [ 13 ], no matter the context.…”

“…Yet, after probing by the researcher, they actually reported seeing a good number of substances within the posts of their contacts. This should be monitored carefully and with details: more than the amount of exposure to which adolescents could be exposed, the connectivity towards the person posting with the substance has to be taken into account as the behaviour could be internalised by the viewer [ 63 ] and could have a strong impact [ 60 ].…”