The effect of narratives on attitudes toward animal welfare and pro-social behaviour on behalf of animals: three pre-registered experiments

Petterson, A. and Currie, G. and Friend, Stacie and Ferguson, H. (2022) The effect of narratives on attitudes toward animal welfare and pro-social behaviour on behalf of animals: three pre-registered experiments. Poetics 94 , p. 101709. ISSN 0304-422X.

Abstract

We report three randomised and pre-registered experiments examining the effects of narrative fiction (vs. narrative non-fiction vs. expository non-fiction) on concern for animal welfare. In Experiment 1a (N = 363) there was no significant increase in concern for animal welfare or willingness to donate to an animal charity among participants who read a narrative fiction text about a monkey’s plight (vs. narrative non-fiction or expository non-fiction texts about a monkey). In Experiment 1b (N = 121) concern for animal welfare and willingness to donate was greater after reading the narrative fiction text compared to a narrative non-fiction text unrelated to animals. Experiment 2 (N = 184) employed a simplified design and more severe depiction of animal abuse, but showed no beneficial effect of reading a narrative fiction text about a monkey’s plight (vs. a narrative non-fiction text unrelated to animals) on either measure. Experiment 3 (N = 290) compared a narrative fiction and a non-fiction text about a monkey or a lizard; participants who read a narrative fiction text, irrespective of the animal depicted, reported greater concern for animal welfare, monkey welfare, lizard welfare and nature (vs. a narrative non-fiction text). However, participants were no more willing to donate in the narrative fiction (vs. non-fiction) condition. These results suggest that reading a narrative fiction text about an animal’s plight has a limited effect on concern for animal welfare.

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