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Drug use, overdose, and addiction has skyrocketed in the past twenty years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Negative stigma towards addiction, or otherwise known as substance use disorder (SUD), has only increased since President Nixon declared the "war on drugs" in 1971 (National Public Radio, 2007). Negative public stigma of SUD creates barriers for treatment for those who are suffering, continuing to exacerbate the stigma surrounding SUD. To understand ways to reduce stigma surrounding SUD, this study will look at narrative persuasion through transportation theory to better understand the power of stories and stories of recovery as a method to reduce stigma surrounding SUD among community members. In addition to examining narrative persuasion literature, 21 semi-structured interviews from community stakeholder groups in Virginia's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services region 3, were conducted. To further understand the content in the stakeholder interviews, a qualitative thematic analysis using inductive themes was conducted to determine common themes surrounding substance use disorder, stigma, and ways to reduce stigma surrounding substance use disorder through narrative persuasion. Based on participant interviews, community stakeholders hold negative perceptions of those with SUD based on personal and professional experiences but believe that positive personal narratives of SUD and recovery can reduce public stigma towards those who suffer from the disorder. / Master of Arts / Drug use, overdose, and addiction has skyrocketed in the past twenty years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Negative stigma towards addiction, or otherwise known as substance use disorder (SUD), has risen since President Nixon declared the "war on drugs" in 1971 (National Public Radio, 2007). Negative public stigma of SUD creates barriers for treatment for those who are suffering, continuing to worsen the stigma surrounding SUD. To understand ways to reduce stigma surrounding SUD, this study will look at persuasive storytelling through transportation theory to better understand the power of stories and stories of recovery as a method to reduce stigma surrounding SUD among community members. In addition to examining narrative persuasion literature, 21 interviews from various community members in region 3 of Virginia were conducted. To further understand the content in the participant interviews, a thematic analysis was conducted to determine common themes and patterns surrounding substance use disorder, stigma, and ways to reduce stigma surrounding substance use disorder through persuasive storytelling. Based on participant interviews, community stakeholders hold negative perceptions of those with SUD through personal and professional experiences but believe that positive personal narratives of SUD and recovery can reduce public stigma towards those who suffer from the disorder.

This study examined portrayals of terrorists in several action films and their effects on participants' thoughts concerning the films and their characters. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial experiment was used to test the effects of antagonist ethnicity (white or non-white), antagonist portrayal type (sympathetic or non-sympathetic), and mortality salience (treatment or control) on narrative transportation, attitude toward the antagonist, attitude toward the video, stereotype endorsement, and response time for attitude toward the antagonist. Gender differences were also investigated.Participants viewed one 15-minute clip from an action film that manipulated antagonist ethnicity and antagonist portrayal. Then, participants answered several questionnaires surrounding the previously mentioned dependent variables. White terrorists and sympathetic portrayals were preferred over non-white terrorists and non-sympathetic portrayals. Participants in the mortality salience control condition evaluated Arabs more favorably than those exposed to the mortality salience treatment. In addition, males rated antagonists more favorably than females, and males were also less likely to engage in stereotyping of Arabs and African Americans. Implications for theory and suggestions for future research were discussed. / Master of Arts

This study sought to expand current narrative persuasion models by examining the role of subtext processing. The extended elaboration likelihood model suggests that transportation leads to persuasion by reducing counterarguments to stories’ persuasive subtexts. The model implicitly argues that transportation should reduce total subtext processing, including counterarguments and intended elaboration. But this study reasoned that people with stronger eudaimonic motivation to have meaningful entertainment experiences, would put more effort into processing stories’ subtexts while engaging with the narrative. Because less eudaimonically motivated individuals may be at risk for missing the subtext, it was also expected that adding a supplemental conclusion scene that reiterates the intended message would facilitate persuasion.Following a pre-test survey, 201 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view an episode of the crime drama Numb3rs: one of two versions of “Harvest,” designed to promote organ donation (with or without a conclusion scene), or a control episode. After viewing, participants completed a thought-listing task and second survey. Results show that “Harvest” did not result in persuasive outcomes related to organ donation. Transportation was a marginally significant positive predictor of total subtext processing. Contrary to predictions, eudaimonic motivation negatively predicted amount of total subtext processing.Eudaimonic motivation also negatively (but marginally) predicted doctor mistrust, but this effect was moderated by conclusion condition: eudaimonic motivation was negatively associated with doctor mistrust only in the no conclusion condition. Eudaimonic motivation was also negatively (but marginally) associated with intended elaboration. Further examination showed that, compared to people with low eudaimonic motivation, those with high eudaimonic motivation were less likely to engage in intended elaboration, but only in the no conclusion condition. This pattern of findings provides indirect evidence that intended elaboration was responsible for decreasing doctor mistrust among people with high eudaimonic motivation who saw the conclusion. But surprisingly, intended elaboration was not directly related to any persuasive outcomes.The findings tentatively suggest that transportation and subtext processing can coexist and that eudaimonic motivation can affect the extent to which viewers engage in subtext processing during narrative engagement. The results also indicate that supplemental conclusions may be useful tools for narrative persuasion.

This thesis examines how the Donbas is discussed in German reviews of Klondike and Donbass, what it can tell us about German ideas regarding the Donbas, and whether these have changed over time. Using qualitative content analysis, reviews from German (online) media are analysed and the emerging themes are described. The theories used to interpret the findings are reception theory and narrative persuasion. It concludes that both reception theory and narrative persuasion can be found in German reviews of Klondike and Donbass, as the films are viewed differently in the context of the full-scale invasion, but also affect the way reviewers see real-life events.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis sought to attain a greater understanding of persuasion through narrative. First, a rhetorical analysis was conducted. The rhetorical analysis identified fantasy themes represented in two original music video artifacts. These themes formed what the author calls Symbolic Convergence Cycle of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Next, an experiment was conducted to provide further evidence that realistic narrative presentations have a greater ability to shape perceptions than more abstract presentations. Findings included that women were more likely to identify subtle abusive behaviors as abusive then men. However, after exposure to conditions containing the visual portion of the music video “Love the Way You Lie”, both female and male participants were less likely to identify subtle abusive behavior as abusive. This revealed that even though two messages can contain the same themes about the subject of IPV, the way that these messages were presented effected the way in which viewers interpreted the messages.

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