Environmental Orientations and News Coverage: Examining the Impact of Individual Differences and Narrative News
环境取向和新闻报道：研究个体差异和叙事新闻的影响

JIANGXUE (ASHLEY) HAN  江雪 （ASHLEY） 韩
Appalachian State University, USA
美国阿巴拉契亚州立大学

Keywords: narrative news, news framing, environmental values
关键词：叙事新闻、新闻框架、环境价值

In recent years, researchers in both communications and psychology have investigated the impact of narratives on individuals in various areas such as news and health communication (see Green, 2006; Mazzocco, Green, Sasota, & Jones, 2010; Shen, Sheer, & Li, 2015). Narratives are essentially the stories that we hear and read almost every day. The use of narratives permeates our daily lives. Within news reporting, journalists routinely use narratives in covering today’s social and political issues. There is a general belief that compared with informational or hard news, narrative news is more engaging and therefore more likely to draw audience interest (Knobloch, Patzig, Mende, & Hastall, 2004; Kramer, 2001). Researchers have found that narratives affected individuals by transporting them into the narrative world and involving them cognitively and emotionally (Green, 2006). The impact of narratives, as some have
近年来，传播学和心理学的研究人员在新闻和健康传播等各个领域调查了叙事对个人的影响（见Green， 2006;Mazzocco， Green， Sasota， & Jones， 2010;Shen， Sheer， & Li， 2015）。叙事本质上是我们几乎每天都听到和读到的故事。叙事的使用渗透到我们的日常生活中。在新闻报道中，记者经常使用叙事来报道当今的社会和政治问题。人们普遍认为，与信息或硬新闻相比，叙事新闻更具吸引力，因此更有可能吸引受众的兴趣（Knobloch， Patzig， Mende， & Hastall， 2004;Kramer， 2001）。研究人员发现，叙事通过将个人带入叙事世界并在认知和情感上让他们参与进来来影响个人（Green， 2006）。叙事的影响，正如一些人所具有的那样

argued, can be stronger and more enduring than that of traditional message formats, such as fact-based information or rhetorical arguments (Dal Cin, Zanna, & Fong, 2004; Green, 2006).
争论的，可以比传统的信息格式更强大、更持久，例如基于事实的信息或修辞论证（Dal Cin， Zanna， & Fong， 2004;Green， 2006）。

This study contributes to existing research by examining the effects of narrative news about the environmental impact of gas drilling on issue and message attitudes and evaluating how such impact might be moderated by individuals’ environmental orientations. Evidence from prior research has shown that in processing media messages, individuals often bring their own predispositions and value orientations to the interpretive process (see Domke, Shah, & Wackman, 1998; Schemer, Wirth, & Matthes, 2012; Shen, 2004). However, more research is needed to understand the extent to which individuals’ predispositions will moderate the effects of news narratives. With that in mind, we conducted an experiment whereby we measured individuals’ environmental orientations and then exposed participants to news reports-narrative or informational-on the environmental consequences of drilling. Our goal was to explore whether individual differences in environmental orientations-between those with high or low environmental concerns-would affect news narratives’ impact on issue attitudes, cognitive responses, sympathy, and transportation. In the sections below, we will provide the conceptual background and rationale for our research. We will then present the details of our experiment. This will be followed by our analyses of the results and a discussion of the implications of our research findings.
本研究通过检查关于天然气钻探环境影响的叙事新闻对问题和信息态度的影响，并评估个人的环境取向如何调节这种影响，为现有研究做出贡献。先前研究的证据表明，在处理媒体信息时，个人经常将自己的倾向和价值取向带入解释过程（参见 Domke， Shah， & Wackman， 1998;Schemer， Wirth， & Matthes， 2012;Shen， 2004）。然而，需要更多的研究来了解个人的倾向将在多大程度上调节新闻叙述的影响。考虑到这一点，我们进行了一项实验，通过测量个人的环境取向，然后让参与者接触到关于钻探的环境后果的新闻报道——叙述或信息。我们的目标是探讨环境取向的个体差异——在环境关注度高或低的人之间——是否会影响新闻叙述对问题态度、认知反应、同情心和交通的影响。在下面的部分中，我们将提供我们研究的概念背景和基本原理。然后，我们将介绍我们实验的细节。接下来我们将对结果进行分析并讨论我们研究结果的含义。

According to Green and Brock (2000), a narrative is “a story that raises unanswered questions, presents unresolved conflicts, or depicts not yet completed activity; characters may encounter and then resolve a crisis or crises” (p. 701). Stories often contain characters, plots, and causal relationships, thus making them distinct from exemplars and other messages. Exemplars, for instance, are usually descriptions of events or issues without the necessary plots or causal relationships that are typical of narratives (Green, 2006; Zillman, Gibson, Sundar, & Perkins, 1996). Narratives often describe the experience of others for entertainment or information. As a result, their persuasive intention is often implicit. In contrast, nonnarratives typically use rhetorical arguments and informational messages with the explicit intention to either persuade or inform (Dal Cin et al., 2004). Narratives’ unique features thus make them potentially more effective in communicating information than other messages. In recent years, researchers have found that narratives can affect individuals both emotionally and cognitively (Green & Brock, 2000; Hinyard & Kreuter, 2007). They have been found to be more effective than nonnarrative messages in changing attitudes and opinions on several issues. For example, Mazzocco et al. (2010) examined the impact of narratives in describing two political issues-tolerance of gay people and the success of affirmative action. They found that compared with rhetorical articles, narratives had a greater impact on individuals’ attitudes toward both issues (Mazzocco et al., 2010). Similarly, Oliver, Dillard, Bae, and Tamul (2012) demonstrated that compared with nonnarratives, narrative news had a greater impact on readers’ attitudes.
根据 Green 和 Brock （2000） 的说法，叙事是“提出未回答的问题、提出未解决的冲突或描述尚未完成的活动的故事;人物可能会遇到并随后解决一个或多个危机”（第 701 页）。故事通常包含人物、情节和因果关系，从而使它们与示例和其他信息区分开来。例如，示例通常是对事件或问题的描述，而没有必要的情节或因果关系，而这些都是叙事的典型特征（Green， 2006;Zillman， Gibson， Sundar， & Perkins， 1996）。叙述通常描述他人的经历，用于娱乐或信息。因此，他们的说服意图往往是隐含的。相比之下，非叙事通常使用修辞论点和信息信息，明确意图来说服或告知（Dal Cin et al.， 2004）。因此，叙事的独特特征使它们在传递信息方面可能比其他信息更有效。近年来，研究人员发现，叙事可以在情感和认知上影响个人（Green & Brock， 2000;Hinyard & Kreuter， 2007）。研究发现，在改变对几个问题的态度和观点方面，它们比非叙事性信息更有效。例如，Mazzocco et al. （2010） 研究了叙事在描述两个政治问题方面的影响——对同性恋者的容忍和平权行动的成功。他们发现，与修辞文章相比，叙事对个人对这两个问题的态度影响更大（Mazzocco et al.， 2010）。同样，Oliver， Dillard， Bae， and Tamul （2012） 证明，与非叙事相比，叙事新闻对读者的态度影响更大。

The primary mechanisms underlying narrative persuasion are transportation and identification. Transportation has been conceptualized as a mental state where one’s “attention, imagery, and feelings are focused on story events” (Green, 2006, p. 164). It is similar to absorption or immersion in a story. Green and Brock (2000) showed that transportation into a written narrative led to narrative-consistent
叙事说服的主要机制是运输和认同。运输被概念化为一种心理状态，其中一个人的“注意力、意象和感受都集中在故事事件上”（Green，2006 年，第 164 页）。它类似于吸收或沉浸在故事中。Green 和 Brock （2000） 表明，进入书面叙事的运输会导致叙事一致
beliefs and attitudes. Oliver et al. (2012) provided similar results in their study on the effects of news narratives on attitudes toward stigmatized groups. Narratives can also have an impact on individuals via identification with story characters. While transportation can be viewed as a “general experience” of being immersed in a narrative and attention to its plot, identification is the reader’s involvement with specific characters (Tal-Or & Cohen, 2010). When readers identify with a narrative, they are likely to be emotionally involved with the characters. Escalas and Stern (2003) identified empathy and sympathy as two related emotional constructs in response to narratives. Whereas sympathy is “one’s feeling of sorrow or concern” (Escalas & Stern, 2003, p. 567) for someone else’s welfare, empathy is one’s ability to share in or absorb another’s feeling. In a study of a television drama’s effects on behavioral intentions, Bae (2008) demonstrated that exposure to a narrative-based show had significant effects on viewers’ empathy and sympathy responses, which in turn predicted issue involvement and other persuasion outcomes. Similarly, prior research in narrative persuasion has also suggested that by involving readers or viewers in the storylines, narratives can overcome resistance and reduce the motivation to engage in counterarguing (Green, 2006; Moyer-Gusé & Nabi, 2010).
信念和态度。Oliver 等人（2012 年）在他们关于新闻叙述对被污名化群体态度的影响的研究中提供了类似的结果。叙述也可以通过对故事人物的认同对个人产生影响。虽然交通可以被视为沉浸在叙事中并关注其情节的“一般体验”，但认同是读者对特定人物的参与（Tal-Or & Cohen，2010）。当读者认同叙事时，他们很可能会在情感上参与到人物中。Escalas 和 Stern （2003） 将同理心和同情心确定为响应叙事的两种相关的情感结构。同情是“一个人的悲伤或关心的感觉”（Escalas & Stern，2003 年，第 567 页），而同理心是一个人分享或吸收他人感受的能力。在一项关于电视剧对行为意图影响的研究中，Bae （2008） 证明，接触基于叙事的节目对观众的同理心和同情反应有显着影响，这反过来又预测了问题的参与和其他说服结果。同样，先前对叙事说服的研究也表明，通过让读者或观众参与故事情节，叙事可以克服阻力并减少参与反驳的动机（Green，2006;Moyer-Gusé & Nabi，2010）。

The evidence of narratives’ effectiveness has been substantial, and researchers in the recent years have found that narratives’ impacts on attitudes and other persuasive outcomes may also be moderated by individual differences in dispositional traits. Appel and Richter’s (2010) study provided evidence suggesting that individuals’ need for affect, as a disposition, moderated the effect of a fictional narrative on beliefs. In a similar vein, Thompson and Haddock (2012) found that narratives’ impacts on individuals differed significantly as a result of their need for affect and for cognition. Other individual difference variables that have been found to moderate the effects of narratives include transportability and the ability for mental imagery (see Zheng, 2014). To extend the prior research on individual traits and narratives, we aim to examine whether individuals’ issue-relevant value orientations might enhance or diminish a news narrative’s influence. From the early days of media effects research to the more recent scholarship in news framing and priming, scholars have found that the mass media’s influence tends to be contingent upon audiences’ preexisting attitudes and values (see Domke et al., 1998; Schemer et al., 2012; Severin & Tankard, 2001; Shen & Edwards, 2005; Zaller, 1992). This is because individuals are not merely passive recipients of media messages. The influence of media messages will therefore depend on how they interact with individuals’ prior knowledge and predispositions (Ho, Brossard, & Scheufele, 2008; Zaller, 1992). In fact, research in social psychology has indicated that individual differences in schemata and prior attitudes may act as cognitive filters that percolate the information we receive and digest, resulting in what is known as biased information process (Higgins, Bargh, & Lombardi, 1985).
叙事有效性的证据是大量的，近年来的研究人员发现，叙事对态度和其他有说服力的结果的影响也可能受到性格特征的个体差异的调节。Appel 和 Richter （2010） 的研究提供的证据表明，个体对情感的需求作为一种性格，会调节虚构叙事对信念的影响。同样，Thompson 和 Haddock （2012） 发现，由于个体对情感和认知的需求，叙事对个体的影响存在显著差异。其他被发现可以调节叙事影响的个体差异变量包括可运输性和心理意象的能力（参见 Zheng，2014）。为了扩展先前对个体特征和叙事的研究，我们的目标是研究个体与问题相关的价值取向是否会增强或削弱新闻叙事的影响力。从早期的媒体效应研究到最近的新闻框架和启动学术研究，学者们发现大众媒体的影响力往往取决于受众预先存在的态度和价值观（见Domke等人，1998年;Schemer等人，2012年;Severin & Tankard，2001年;Shen & Edwards，2005年;Zaller，1992年）。这是因为个人不仅仅是媒体信息的被动接收者。因此，媒体信息的影响力将取决于它们如何与个人的先前知识和倾向互动（Ho， Brossard， & Scheufele， 2008;Zaller， 1992）。 事实上，社会心理学的研究表明，图式和先前态度的个体差异可能起到认知过滤器的作用，渗透到我们接收和消化的信息中，从而导致所谓的偏见信息过程（Higgins， Bargh， & Lombardi， 1985）。

Because of their chronic accessibility, predispositions can be easily activated and can influence our decision making and information processing as a result. Indeed, in examining the impact of media framing of the issue of welfare reform, Shen and Edwards (2005) found that individuals’ value orientations on individualism and humanitarianism—two core American values-significantly moderated responses to media framing messages on the issue. Similarly, Ho et al. (2008) found that value predispositions such as religiosity and deference to authority were significant factors in shaping public attitudes toward stem cell research.
由于它们的长期可访问性，易感性很容易被激活，并因此影响我们的决策和信息处理。事实上，在研究媒体对福利改革问题框架的影响时，Shen 和 Edwards （2005） 发现个人对个人主义和人道主义（美国的两个核心价值观）的价值取向显着缓和了对媒体关于该问题的信息的反应。同样，Ho et al. （2008） 发现，宗教信仰和对权威的尊重等价值倾向是塑造公众对干细胞研究态度的重要因素。