A lot of my research deals with stories or narratives. How do fictional stories affect attitudes and beliefs about real-world issues? What are the mechanisms underlying narrative persuasion? How can stories provide meaning?
These are some of our more recent articles on stories…
Krause, S., & Appel, M. (2020). Stories and the self: Assimilation, contrast, and the role of being transported into the narrative world. Journal of Media Psychology, 32(2), 47–58. [pdf]
Appel, M., Schreiner, C., Isberner, M.-B., & Richter, T. (2019). The mediating role of event-congruent emotions in narrative persuasion. Poetics, 77, 101385. [pdf]
Appel, M., Slater, M. D., & Oliver, M. B. (2019). Repelled by virtue? The dark triad and eudaimonic narratives. Media Psychology, 22, 769-794. [pdf]
Isberner, M.-B., Richter, T., Schreiner, C., Eisenbach, Y., Sommer, C., & Appel, M. (2019). Empowering stories: Transportation into narratives with strong protagonists increases self-related control beliefs. Discourse Processes, 56, 575-598. [pdf]
Slater, M. D., Oliver, M. B., & Appel, M. (2019). Poignancy and mediated wisdom of experience: Narrative impacts on willingness to accept delayed rewards. Communication Research, 46, 333-354. [link]
Oliver, M. B., Raney, A. A., Slater, M. D., Appel, M., Hartmann, T., Bartsch, A., Schneider, F. M., Janicke, S. H., Krämer, N., Mares, M.-L., Vorderer, P., Rieger, D., Dale, K. R., & Das, E. (2018). Self-transcendent media experiences: Taking meaningful media to a higher level. Journal of Communication, 68, 380-389.
Schreiner, C., Appel, M., Isberner M.-B., & Richter, T. (2018). Argument strength and the persuasiveness of stories. Discourse Processes, 55, 371-386. [pdf]
Slater, M. D., Oliver, M. B., Appel, M., Tchernev, J. M., & Silver, N. A. (2018). Mediated wisdom of experience revisited: Delay discounting, acceptance of death, and closeness to future self. Human Communication Research, 44, 80-101.
Gebbers, T., De Wit, J., & Appel, M. (2017). Transportation into narrative worlds and the motivation to change health-related behavior. International Journal of Communication, 11, 21. [pdf]
Appel, M., Krause, S., Gleich, U., & Mara, M. (2016). Meaning through fiction: Science Fiction and innovative technologies. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 10, 472-480.
Appel, M., Gnambs, T., Richter, T., & Green, M. (2015). The Transportation Scale-Short Form (TS-SF). Media Psychology, 18, 243-266. [pdf]
Mara, M. & Appel, M. (2015). Science fiction reduces the eeriness of android robots: A field experiment. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 156-162. [pdf]
Gnambs, T., Appel, M., Schreiner, C., Richter, T., & Isberner, M.-B. (2014). Experiencing narrative worlds: A latent state-trait analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 69, 187-192. [pdf]
Richter, T., Appel, M., & Calio, F. (2014). Stories can influence the self-concept. Social Influence, 9, 172-188. [pdf]
Appel, M. & Mara, M. (2013). The persuasive influence of a fictional character’s trustworthiness. Journal of Communication, 63, 912-932. [pdf]
Appel, M. & Maleckar, B. (2012). The influence of paratext on narrative persuasion. Fact, fiction, or fake? Human Communication Research, 38, 459-484. [pdf]