2026-10-14T18:22:06Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.psych.00441 2025-01-14T16:56:44Z

2025-01-14 The Impact of Move Structure of Exemplary Narrative on Reader Attitudes doi:10.57760/sciencedb.psych.00441 en This study employed a between-subjects experiment in which participants read a weight-loss narrative featuring a protagonist, Xiaomei. The experiment manipulated the narrative’s move structures, varying between sequential move structures and interwoven move structures. We aimed to establish a causal relationship between move structure and narrative appeal, and to explore a social comparison-based mediating mechanism. Participants (N = 320), recruited through a Chinese online platform, were representative of the general population. After excluding participants who failed a manipulation check assessing attentive reading, the final sample consisted of 264 participants (190 female, 74 male; Mage = 29.14 years, SDage = 7.44; MBMI = 21.70, SDBMI = 2.85). The experimental procedure involved participants being randomly assigned to read one of the experimental narratives. Each narrative was presented over eight pages, with a minimum viewing time of 8-11 seconds per page to ensure reading comprehension. A two-item multiple-choice manipulation check, asking “Which of the following best describes the protagonist’s weight-loss journey?” was used to exclude participants who failed to demonstrate attentive reading. Subsequently, participants rated: (1) the appeal of the story using three 7-point scales (1 = not at all, 7 = very much), assessing favorability, enjoyment, and attractiveness; (2) their willingness to read similar stories on the platform (1 = not at all willing, 7 = very willing); and (3) their willingness to subscribe to the platform for similar stories (1 = not at all willing, 7 = very willing; Cronbach's α = 0.881). This multidimensional approach sought to provide a comprehensive attitude assessment, encompassing both immediate reactions and long-term engagement intentions (Zhang & Chen, 2015). Next, participants completed a questionnaire assessing potential mediating variables, including social comparison. Social comparison tendency was measured using a modified version of the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure (INCOM; Gibbons & Buunk, 1999), translated by Bai, Liu, and Liu (2013). We selected items relevant to the narrative context and focused comparisons within the context of reading weight-loss stories, including: (1) “When reading this story, I focused on the differences between myself and the protagonist’s weight-loss journey”; (2) “While reading, I compared myself with weight-loss bloggers”; (3) “When reading, I tried to understand what the protagonist thought when facing difficulties”; (4) “While reading, I often wondered what the protagonist would do if faced with a weight-loss challenge like mine”; and (5) "After reading, I would like to know more about weight-loss information, and I will try to find out what others think about weight loss” (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree; Cronbach's α = 0.826). Higher scores indicate greater social comparison during reading. To control for potential confounding factors, two 7-point scales (1 = very negative, 7 = very positive and 1 = very unnatural, 7 = very natural) were adapted from Berger et al. (2021) to assess narrative valence and naturalness. Finally, participants provided demographic information, including gender, age, height, and weight, as control variables. Narrative Structure; Self-Control; Social Comparison; Move; Propp Iris Yu PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ dataset Science Data Bank