Professional Documents
Culture Documents
JUAN-JOSE IGARTUA
E-Mail: jigartua@usal.es
Abstract
This article presents three studies examining the importance of identifica-
tion with characters in research on media entertainment. In Study 1 it was
found that identification with characters was associated with spectators'
degree of enjoyment of feature films of different genres. Study 2 showed
that identification with characters predicts the affective impact of a dra-
matic film and, also, it was associated with greater cognitive elaboration
and a more complex reflexive process during the viewing of the dramatic
film. In Study 3 it was observed that identification with characters pre-
dicted the incidental impact of a full length fictional film on attitudes and
beliefs. These results support the centrality of the construct of identification
with characters in narrative persuasion research.
Keywords: identification with the characters; narrative persuasion; media
entertainment; feature films
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still diffuse (e. g., Nabi and Krcmar, 2004). Sometimes it is compared to
the experience of pleasurable emotional states as the result of consuming
a determined fictional product (Oliver, 2003). However, enjoyment also
occurs when facing contents designed to stimulate negative emotional
states (de Wied et al., 1994; Oliver, 2008; Vorderer, 2003). Finally, it has
been pointed out that it can be defined as an overall judgment about
the value of entertainment that persons make after exposure to specific
contents (Oliver, Weaver and Sargent, 2000; Tan, 1996).
With respect to the relationship between identification with characters
and enjoyment, Cohen (2001) has suggested that given that empathy is
a central component of identification with characters, greater identifica-
tion is likely to lead to greater enjoyment of the messages. In this sense,
in the study carried out by de Wied et al. (1994), a positive correlation
was observed between the degree of empathic sadness experienced during
the viewing of the film Steel Magnolias and the degree of enjoyment it
caused, evaluated at the end of its viewing. For their part, Igartua and
Paez (1997) observed that enjoyment caused by viewing dramatic feature
films about the Spanish Civil War was associated with greater identifica-
tion with the characters. Finally, Busselle and Bilandzic (2009) observed
that the enjoyment caused by viewing the film The Station Agent corre-
lated positively with identification with characters. The results of these
studies corroborate the thesis of Cohen (2001), although more research
is necessary to analyze whether this relationship holds for film producti-
ons of a different genre.
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Hl: The individuals who identify more with the characters will enjoy
the film more.
H2: To the extent that viewers identify with the characters in a dramatic
film, they will experience a greater increase in negative affect from
viewing the film.
H3a: To the extent that viewers identify with the characters in a dra-
matic film, they will experience greater elaboration during viewing.
H3b: To the extent that viewers identify with the characters in a dra-
matic film, they will experience fewer negative cognitive responses
during viewing (the total polarity of all cognitive responses will
become more positive).
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Study 1, Method
Participants
A convenience sample was obtained composed of 300 individuals (64.7 %
women; Mage = 28.69 years, SD = 10.47). The participants were inter-
viewed coming out of several movie theaters where the films selected for
the research were being shown.
(in the present study the interval used was "at this time." The PANAS
scale has 20 emotional terms grouped into two dimensions, which yield
two indicators, one of positive affect (a= .80) and the other of negative
affect (a = .87).
Identification with characters. This was evaluated using the EDI scale by
Igartua and Paez (1998)2. This scale is made up of 14 items, and the
response format is a 5-point intensity scale (ranging from 1 = not at all,
to 5 = very much). Principal components factor analysis was carried
out with oblique rotation (oblimin method). This analysis extracted two
factors that together explained 60.71 % of the variance (see results and
scale items in Table 1). The first factor was composed of 7 items that
refer to the experience of becoming the character and the loss of self-
awareness (a= .90). The second factor was also composed of 7 items,
linked to the cognitive and emotional empathic reactions to the charac-
ters (a= .86). The correlation between the two factors was very high
(r (292) = .68, p < .001). Taking as a reference the results of exploratory
factor analysis, we ran a second-order confirmatory factor analysis using
the AMOS program (Byrne, 2001). In this analysis it was assumed that
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Evaluation of the film. Enjoyment was rated by a single item: "to what
extent did you like the film?" (ranging from O = I didn't like it at all, to
10 = I liked it very much). The participants also filled out an aesthetic
assessment scale by means of a semantic differential composed of 7 bi-
polar 5-point scales: unpleasant-pleasant, bad-good, fictitious-realistic,
pretty-ugly, boring-entertaining, tense-relaxed and sad-happy. The
aesthetic assessment scale was used to test whether the films viewed by
the participants received different assessments according to the genre to
which they pertained.
Results
Significant differences were found among the audience attending the
three films in the variables gender (x2 (2, N = 291) = 21.41, p < .001)
and age (F(2, 297) = 4.65, p < .010, 17/ = .030). The effect of these
variables was thus controlled for statistically in the subsequent analysis.
The differential impact of the three films was tested on enjoyment,
aesthetic assessment, mood induction and identification with characters
using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), including gender and age as
covariables. As was expected, there were significant differences in the
negative affect (F(2, 283) = 33.80, p < .001, 17~ = .193), and in the
aesthetic assessment of the films (see Table 2). Moreover, the perception
of enjoyment (F(2, 286) = 17.34, p < .001, 17~ = .108) and identification
with characters (F(2, 281) = 18.14, p < .001, 17~ = .114) were higher
among the spectators who had seen the drama.
In order to determine the role played by identification with characters
in explaining the enjoyment of the films (hypothesis 1), four partial cor-
relation analysis were carried out (controlling for gender and age). Over-
all, and supporting HI, a strong positive correlation was observed between
identification with the characters and enjoyment (rpartiaz(280) = .51,
p < .001). For its part, the analysis differentiated by film showed a posi-
tive and significant association between the two variables for The Sea
Inside (rpartiat(85) = .57, p < .001), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
(rpartiat(93) = .50, p < .001) and El Lobo (rpartiat(90) = .26, p < .005).
BJ EL SI F df p rJ/ ?
M SD M SD M SD ~
~
I
Identification with characters (14-70) 46.36a 13.15 39.47a 10.66 49.49b 10.88 18.14 2,281 .000 .114 ~
c,,
~,
> Enjoyment: >
C
>-3 • To what extent did you like the film (0-10) 7_73a 1.92 7.87a 1.29 8.90b 1.12 17.34 2,286 .000 .108 ~ C
>-3
~
::c: Aesthetic evaluation:
""I
...... ::c:
0 ;;::: 0
~ • Unpleasant (1)- Pleasant (5) 4.52a 0.74 3.40b 1.07 3_95c 1.02 29.25 2,286 .000 .170 ~
~
(/:1 (/:1
• Bad (I)-Good (5) 3.64a 1.10 4.06b 0.99 4.62c 0.60 27.35 2,286 .000 .161
n 2.97a 4.31 b 4.64c
n
0 • Fictitious (1)- Realistic (5) 1.23 1.05 0.78 65.85 2,286 .000 .315 0
""d • Pretty (1)-Ugly (5) 2.23a 1.12 2.93b 1.01 1.91 C 1.11 17.83 2,286 .000 .111 ""d
-< • Boring (I)-Entertaining (5) 4.19a 1.25 3.41 b 0.98 3.69c 0.92 11.53 2,286 .000 .075
-<
>
C • Tense (I)-Relaxed (5) 3.85a 1.21 2.32b 1.05 2.76c 1.16 43.26 2,286 .000 .232 >
C
>-3 • Sad (I)-Happy (5) 4_35a 0.98 2.44b 0.94 1.89c 1.25 149.26 2,286 .000 .511 >-3
0 0
;
trJ
Mood:
• Positive affect 25.85a 7.80 28.29b 6.23 28.01 C 7.67 2.55 2,276 .079 .018
;
trJ
>< • Negative affect 13.61 a 5.29 20.77b 7.93 18.94b 6.41 33.80 2,283 .000 .193 ><
trJ trJ
~ Note: Feature-length Films: BJ (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), EL (El lobo), SI (The Sea Inside). The means that do not share ~
""d ""d
r the same superscript letter are differentiated from each other with a significance level of p < .05 (comparisons among the films). r
>
~
>
~
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Discussion
The results of Study 1 lead us to conclude that identification with char-
acters is an important factor for explaining the enjoyment of feature-
length films of different genres, which supports hypothesis 1. Further-
more, it was observed that identification with the characters and enjoy-
ment were greater among the individuals who had seen the dramatic film
(The Sea Inside).
Study 2, Method
Participants
Fifty-four Communication students of the University of Salamanca
(56.6% women; Mage= 23.44 years, SD = 4.01) participated. All the
participants had Spanish nationality and participated in the study volun-
tarily, obtaining academic credit for doing so. They were informed that
they were going to take part in a study of film reception, but were not
told the title of the film.
Identification with characters. This was evaluated with the EDI scale of
Igartua and Paez (1998) (a = .89).
66.68 % of the variance. The first factor was composed of the first four
items (with loads above .67), whereas the second factor comprised only
one item ("I have tried not to think about it too much and let myself be
transported by the film"). The four items making up the first factor were
added together to obtain an indicator of the elaboration or reflection
that took place during the viewing of the film (a= .75).
Enjoyment. The participants were asked: "To what extent did you like
the film?" (ranging from 0 = I didn't like it at all, to 10 = I liked it
very much).
Results
It was found that viewing the film Poniente had a significant affective
impact (see table 3): the participants showed a statistically significant
increase of negative affect from the pre-test measure to the post-test
measure (t(46) = -6.45, p < .001, d = 1.106). It was also found that
the induction of negative affect was associated with greater enjoyment
(r(44) = .48, p < .001). The association between induction of positive
affect and enjoyment was not as intense and was only marginally signifi-
cant (r (43) = .21, p < .078).
As predicted by H2, identification with characters was associated with
a greater induction of negative affect (r(43) = .45,p < .001), but was only
marginally associated with the induction of positive affect (r (40) = .22,
p < .077). Furthermore, identification with characters was associated
with greater enjoyment (r(44) = .58, p < .001). In addition, the findings
support H3a, since identification with characters was associated with
greater cognitive elaboration (r (45) = .55, p < .001). Moreover, it was
also associated with greater cognitive productivity in the thought-listing
technique (r (45) = .23, p < .053), and developing higher quality cogni-
tive responses (r(45) = .19, p < .091) (though the last two results were
marginally significant). However, no significant correlation was observed
between identification with characters and the polarity of the cognitive
responses (r (45) = .06, p = .330), as posited in H3b.
Table 3. Affective impact caused by viewing the Feature-Length Film 'Poniente'. Stu-
dent's t for related samples ( Study 2).
Mood indicators Pre-test Post-test t df p d
M SD M SD
• Positive affect (10-50) 23.32 6.37 23.41 6.62 -0.12 45 .901 0.013
• Negative affect (10-50) 14.48 5.75 22.04 7.77 -6.45 46 .000 1.106
Discussion
The results of Study 2 show that viewing the dramatic film Poniente
induced a negative mood state in the participants and that this was asso-
ciated with greater enjoyment, which is consistent with previous research
and the drama paradox (Oliver, 1993). It was also found that the induc-
tion of a negative mood was most intense among those individuals who
had most identified with the film's characters. Third, identification with
the characters was associated with greater cognitive elaboration and with
developing a reflective process of greater quality or complexity. Hypoth-
eses 2 and 3a were thus confirmed. Finally, identification with characters
was not linked to the polarity of the cognitive responses, which means
that Hypothesis 3b could not be confirmed (see Conclusions and Gene-
ral Discussion).
Study 3, Method
Participants
Ninety-three students of the University of Salamanca (55.9 % women;
Mage= 22.61 years, SD = 1.90) participated in the study. All the stu-
dents had Spanish nationality and participated in the study voluntarily,
obtaining academic credit for doing so. They were informed that they
were going to take part in a study on film reception, but not informed
about the title of the film or its theme.
signed (and two showings of the film), the only difference being the
placement of the dependent variables (attitudes, beliefs, and emotions
relating to immigrants) within it. In addition, all participants completed
a measure of mood (immediately before and after viewing the film) and
a measure of identification with the film's characters (after viewing the
movie; see below, Variables and Instruments section).
The film used in the research, A Day Without A Mexican, is a Mexico-
US co-production directed by Sergio Arau in 2004, with a running time
of 95 minutes. Regarding its genre, it has been classified as a comedy, a
satire and a mockumentary, and it concerns the lives of immigrants in
receiving societies (http://www.imdb.com). None of the participants had
seen the film previously. In order to evaluate the implicit message of the
film with respect to immigration, a pilot study was done in which 15
persons participated (80 % women, Mage = 28.07 years) who had pre-
viously seen the film. The results of this pilot study showed that the film
projects a positive attitude towards immigration (80 % of the partici-
pants considered it as such). Regarding its implicit beliefs, the partici-
pants considered that the following ideas were very present in the film
(on a scale ranging from 1 "not at all present" to 5 "very present"): "in
general, every society needs immigrant workers" (M = 4.47, SD = 0.74),
"it is difficult for a society without immigrants to function well and
make progress" (M = 4.33, SD = 0. 72), "immigrants do jobs that native-
born citizens do not want" (M = 4.27, SD = 0.79), "in general, immigra-
tion contributes to the development of the host country" (M = 4.27,
SD = 0.88) and "an increase in immigrants favors the economy of the
country receiving them" (M = 3.93, SD = 0.79). On the other hand,
they considered that the following ideas were not very present in the
film: "an increase in immigration favors an increase in crime" (M = 1.60,
SD = 0.91), "by accepting lower wages, foreign workers bring down the
salaries of native-born citizens" (M = 1.93, SD = 0. 79), "there is a close
relationship between immigration and a decline in law and order" (M =
1.53, SD = 0.64), "immigrants take way jobs from native-born citizens"
(M = 2.20, SD = 1.08), "in general, immigrants cause many problems
in the society that takes them in" (M = 1.93, SD = 0.59) and "immi-
grants occupy jobs that should be occupied by native-born citizens"
(M = 1.93, SD = 0.96). The dominant emotions towards immigrants
were sympathy (M = 4.07, SD = 0.88) and admiration (M = 3.13,
SD = 1.06), with the following emotions considered as having little pres-
ence in the film: fear (M = 1.27, SD = 0.45), mistrust (M = 1.60,
SD = 0. 73), lack of safety (M = 1.60, SD = 0. 73), and indifference
(M = 1.93, SD = 0.88).
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Identification with characters. This was assessed using the EDI scale by
Igartua and Paez (1998) (a= .91).
Results
Preliminary analyses
No differences were observed between the control and treatment groups
in regard to age (t (91) = -1.17, p = .242, d = 0.245), gender (x2 (1, N
= 91) = 2.31, p = .128), identification with characters (t(82) = 1.38,
p = .170, d = 0.301), or induction of positive affect (t (82) 1.28,
p = .204, d = 0.282) and negative affect (t(79) = -0.76, p = .449,
d = 0.166).
Discussion
The results of Study 3 allow us to conclude that the experimental expo-
sure to the film A Day Without A Mexican reinforced a positive attitude
towards immigration and beliefs about the positive contribution of im-
migrants to the economies of receiving countries (thus, H4 was sup-
ported). It also shows that identification with characters plays an impor-
tant role in explaining the incidental persuasive impact caused by the
viewing of the film (which means that H5 was supported).
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also with the results of empirical research studies to this end (Busselle
and Bilandzic, 2009; Davis et al, 1987; de Wied et al., 1994).
The results concerning the incidental persuasive impact of exposure to
a feature film with a message favorable to immigration are congruent
with previous research into the effects of exposure to commercial audio-
visual productions (Butler et al., 1995; Igartua and Paez, 1997; Schofield
and Pavelchak, 1989; Slater et al., 2006), and those carried out in the
field of education-entertainment (Wilkin et al., 2007). The results of
Study 3 are also important in the context of research into ethnic preju-
dice, television and vicarious parasocial interaction (see, Muller, 2009;
Ortiz and Harwood, 2007). Batson et al. (1997) have pointed out that an
effective way to improve attitudes towards a stigmatized group (ethnic
minorities, etc.) is to promote empathy with a member of that group.
In this sense, certain audiovisual productions (The Colour Purple, for
example), which present the particular cases of persons forming part of
the stigmatized groups, can be used to improve the image of these groups
by allowing audiences to empathize with the characters; this then leads
to attitudinal changes. The results of Study 3 concur with this approach,
since exposure to a feature film presenting a positive image of immi-
grants caused a change in the attitudes and beliefs regarding that group
(hypothesis 4), and this effect was explained by identification with the
characters of that film (hypothesis 5).
One of the most important results of Study 3 is the observation of a
statistically significant correlation between identification with the char-
acters in the film A Day Without a Mexican and positive attitudes and
beliefs with regard to immigration among the participants in the treat-
ment group, but not in the control group. Given that the individuals in
the control group filled in the attitudinal measures before viewing the
film, whereas the treatment group filled them in after seeing the film, the
results obtained allow us to conclude that a causal connection between
identification with characters and the attitudinal variables in question
exists. In other words, the results allow us to refute the possibility that
it was the previous attitudes and beliefs that influenced the identification
with the characters in the film, providing us with a solid argument about
the importance of identification in the narrative persuasion process.
The results of Study 2 allow us to confirm that identification was
associated with greater reflection during reception of the film, and with
developing a more complex discourse. These results are consistent with
what is postulated by the explanatory models of narrative persuasion of
Green and Brock (2000) and Slater and Rouner (2002). In this sense, the
correlation between identification with characters and indicators of the
quality (complexity of cognitive responses) and intensity of reflection
(cognitive elaboration) does not necessarily mean that the reflection
would have been critical of the film's message, since the degree of
counter-argumentation generated by the participants during the viewing
of the film (polarity of cognitive response) was not associated with iden-
tification with characters in a statistically significant way (r (45) = .06,
p = .330). Since a negative correlation was not observed, the results of
Study 2 reveal that identification with characters is not associated with
a critical approach to the arguments implicit in the film (although neither
was it associated with the production of more positive cognitive re-
sponses), and therefore Hypothesis 3b could only be partially verified.
The research presented here has some limitations. In the first place,
the identification with characters scale used in the three studies con-
tained items that were formulated in a generic way (for instance, "I felt
as if I were one of the characters"). In subsequent studies it would be
advisable to adapt the scale used in the three studies described here by
asking the participants about identification with the main character or
with a specific character in the narrative. A second limitation is related
to the measurement of enjoyment in the first two studies. In both cases
a single item was used, in the understanding that enjoyment can be con-
ceptualized as a kind of attitude towards an offer of media entertainment
(Nabi and Krcmar, 2004). Currently, some authors have posited that
a more suitable concept for referring to individuals' reactions to film
productions is that of appreciation, given that the expression "I enjoyed
this movie" can mean different things to different people (Oliver, 2008;
Oliver and Bartsch, 2010). Thirdly, it should be pointed out that much
of the empirical evidence is based on correlational data, though this is a
common flaw in studies in this area (Chory-Assad and Cicchirillo, 2005;
Chory-Assad and Yanen, 2005). In future research, experimental designs
should be used in which identification with characters is manipulated,
for example, through instructions (see Davis et al., 1987; de Graaf et
al., 2009a).
Bionote
Juan-Jose Igartua is Professor of Process and Media Effects, University
of Salamanca, Spain.
Notes
1. This aspect has been recognized by the director in numerous interviews, especially
after the impact the film in question had on the demonstrations held on May 1,
2006 by Hispanics in the US (called "A Day Without Immigrants") to protest
against plans to pass new legislation on immigration that would toughen up policies
on illegal aliens and those that help them (Cancino, 2006).
2. In the present study three items were eliminated from the original version to im-
prove the internal consistency of the scale. The items eliminated were the following:
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