International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Transportation into a narrative world refers to the feeling of being lost in the world of a narrative, of being completely immersed in a story and leaving the real world behind. This experience is a key mechanism underlying the influence of stories or narratives on individuals' attitudes and beliefs, and is also associated with media enjoyment. Although transportation has long been used as a metaphor for narrative experience, psychologists have conceptualized transportation into a narrative world as a distinct mental process, an integrative melding of →  attention , imagery, and →  emotions ( Gerrig 1993 ; Green & Brock 2000 , 701; see also Nell 1988 ). Transportation is a form of experiential response to narratives. It is psychologically similar to flow ( Csikszentmihalyi 1990 ) or absorption, although both flow and absorption are more general concepts (individuals can experience flow in a variety of activities; absorption is a dispositional tendency to become immersed in experiences). Transportation is also similar to Vorderer's high involvement (→  Involvement with Media Content ). Transported readers may lose track of time, fail to notice events going on around them, or experience strong emotions. Such readers may experience participatory responses – the desire to communicate with narrative characters or help them toward their goals ( Polichak & Gerrig 2002 ). The ... log in or subscribe to read full text