The Persuasive Influence of Narrative Causality: Psychological Mechanism, Strength in Overcoming Resistance, and Persistence Over Time

The impact of narrative persuasion depends on the location of its persuasive information relative to the cause-and-effect structure within the narrative, yet, the bounds of this structural influence remain unknown. This study examines the a) underlying psychological mechanism, b) strength in overcoming psychological resistance, and c) persistence over time of narrative causality effects on information acceptance. Results suggest causality effects occur during initial stages of comprehension, which serve to shield the influence from external moderators, such as preexisting worldviews. The effect also remained constant over a two-week delay. Results serve to psychologically explain the narrative causality effect and suggest it remains robust over a wide range of conditions, potentially being useful for persuasion of otherwise resistant audiences.