Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Submit your manuscript through SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Communication Research
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (5)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Knobloch, S.
Right arrow Articles by Hastall, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Affective News

Effects of Discourse Structure in Narratives on Suspense, Curiosity, and Enjoyment While Reading News and Novels

Silvia Knobloch

Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Grit Patzig

Institute for Communication Research of the Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Anna-Maria Mende

Institute for Communication Research of the Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Matthias Hastall

Institute for Communication Research of the Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Three studies were conducted to investigate effects of narrative’s discourse structures and factuality on suspense, curiosity, and reading enjoyment. Data collected with a questionnaire to measure suspense and curiosity substantiated the discriminant validity of these dimensions. In a Web-based study and two paper-pencil studies, respondents read texts that were manipulated for type of discourse structure (linear, reversal, or inverted type). To manipulate factuality (high vs. low), texts were presented either as news reports or as novel excerpts, a treatment that proved to be effective. All assumptions gained empirical support. The linear type evoked more suspense than either reversal or inverted type. Curiosity was higher in reaction to reversal-type narratives than it was for either linear-type or inverted-type narratives. The linear and the reversal type both produced greater reading enjoyment than the inverted type. These effects were independent of factuality of media content.

Key Words: news reception • affective responses • narrative • discourse structure • suspense • curiosity

Communication Research, Vol. 31, No. 3, 259-287 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0093650203261517
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JournalismHome page
K. Tenenboim Weinblatt
Fighting for the story's life: Non-closure in journalistic narrative
Journalism, February 1, 2008; 9(1): 31 - 51.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The Harvard International Journal of Press/PoliticsHome page
B. C. Andrew
Media-generated Shortcuts: Do Newspaper Headlines Present Another Roadblock for Low-information Rationality?
International Journal of Press/Politics, April 1, 2007; 12(2): 24 - 43.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Communication ResearchHome page
R. A. Yaros
Is It the Medium or the Message? Structuring Complex News to Enhance Engagement and Situational Understanding by Nonexperts
Communication Research, August 1, 2006; 33(4): 285 - 309.
[Abstract] [PDF]