Story Appraisal Theory: From Story Kernel Appraisals to Implications and Impact

Abstract

Story Appraisal Theory posits that reduced memory representations of stories, or story kernels, are appraised in a three-dimensional story appraisal space. Stories deemed to have a point (pointedness), to be plausible (plausibility), and to be generalizable to society (probative value) are more likely to provoke implications than stories found wanting on one or more of these appraisal parameters. Story kernel–prompted implications, in turn, produce attitudinal and behavioral effects. Stories may have implications for the self, others (family and friends), and society. Four experiments found general support for the proposition that favorable appraisals promote implication generation. Experiments 2 to 4 revealed that implications partially mediate between the story appraisal dimensions and estimates of behavior change in response to the stories.