The current study explores the impact of dissonant origin information (information about character origin that counters audiences’ prior knowledge) on dispositional shift (movement from more to less extreme judgments). In a 2 (action: pro- or anti-social) x 2 (outcome: rewarded or punished) x 2 (canonical/control or dissonant origin) between-subjects experimental design, participants receiving dissonant origin experienced greater dispositional polarization (that is, dramatic shift) – from extreme positive to extreme negative judgments; these effects intensified when the character’s actions were anti-social.

1. “WEB-SLING TO
SAVE
OR SHOOT TO KILL?”
Interaction Lab
(#ixlab)
Bowman · Roman
Knoster · Sanders

2. ABSTRACT
The current study explores the impact of dissonant origin
information (information about character origin that counters
audiences’ prior knowledge) on dispositional shift (movement
from more to less extreme judgments). In a 2 (action: pro- or
anti-social) x 2 (outcome: rewarded or punished) x 2
(canonical/control or dissonant origin) between-subjects
experimental design, participants receiving dissonant origin
experienced greater dispositional polarization (that is,
dramatic shift) – from extreme positive to extreme negative
judgments; these effects intensified when the character’s
actions were anti-social.

3. BACKGROUND
• Morally ambiguous
characters possess
traits spanning the
good/evil
“dichotomy”
• Origin stories set
the anchor for this
assessment

4. BACKGROUND
“It is in the exposition
that audiences are given
the origin story of a
character, and this origin
often serves as the
cognitive and affective
anchor by which we
weigh a character’s
subsequent actions”
(Raney, 2003).

5. BACKGROUND
Origin Stories
Espoused origins
provide the moral
lenses for …
Character dispositions
…our initial
assessments of a
character …
Character actions
…and contextualize
how we accept or
reject a character’s
actions (regardless
of this action’s
“objective”
valence)
Origins provide the anchor for character
impression formation (Sanders, 2010)

6. BACKGROUND
The Comics Code Authority lead to
the “great Silvering” of gritty
heroes such as Batman.

7. HYPOTHESIS
• (H1) The presentation of dissonant origin information
will lessen the degree to which audiences are
affectively polarized toward characters.
• (H2) Moral evaluations of characters and their
behaviors will mediate the relationship between origin
stories and affective polarization.
• An increase in good/evil polarization will be
associated with
– (H3a) lower feelings of eudaimonic appreciation
– (H3b) higher feelings of hedonic enjoyment.
Good
“Meh”
Evil

8. METHOD
• N = 292 for a “story on superheroes”
– (52% male, age M = 29.51, 30% comic fans)
Your random* character is: Spider-Man
The pages you’re about to read are still “in progress” so you’ll notice that
the art and storyline are still a bit rough – this is completely normal as
artists and writers will often tweak their products after getting feedback
from readers. Please pay close attention to the developing storyline, and
we’ll ask you about your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to read
them. There should be five total draft comic book pages.
*participants completed knowledge
test on six super-heroes (foil)

9. METHOD
• Five-page comics
created w/ existing
Spider-Man art
Sample “good” action

10. METHOD
• Spider-Man either
rewarded or punished
for his actions…
“Punishment”
“Reward”
• …and directly (“bad”)
or indirectly (“control”)
killed his Uncle Ben

11. METHOD
• Measures
– Character disposition (-2 to +2)
• Avg shift from 1.02 to -0.19; dispositional shift of M = -1.20
– Character knowledge (six-point)
• all but n = 11 knew Spider-Man’s origin
– Character morality (six-point)
• Raney (2004); M = 2.93, SD = 1.11
– Enjoyment & appreciation
• Oliver and Raney (2011): enjoyment M = 2.93 (SD = .86),
appreciation M = 2.76 (SD = .88)

12. RESULTS: H1
• Dissonant origins should reduce polarization;
not supported
– Largest shift for “bad action, bad/good
outcome, dissonant origin” (M ~ 1.90)
– Least shift for “good action, bad/good
outcome, control origin” (M ~ .50)

13. RESULTS: H2
Dissonant
Origin
-.240
Character
Morality
.486 Polarization
“Good Action” narratives:
? ?
Character
Morality
.376 Polarization
Bad Action” narratives

14. RESULTS: H3
• Greater
polarization was
associated with
higher enjoyment
(H3a, R2 = .225)

15. DISCUSSION
• “At least for the writers of such a popular superhero as
Spider-Man, the current study suggests that when it comes
to cherished heroes, “with great popularity, comes great
responsibility.” Providing a dissonant anti-hero origin
might be expected to give audiences more to contemplate,
but the current study suggests that the introduction of
intense dissonance might well result in a rejection of the
hero label in favor for the villain one. In a way, the anti-hero
exists in a precarious valley in between the heroic and the
villainous – in between the web-slinger and the gun-slinger.”

16. FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://comm.wvu.edu
/fs/research/lab
Nick Bowman, Ph.D. [CV]
Twitter (@bowmanspartan)
Skype (nicholasdbowman)
nicholas.bowman@mail.wvu.edu
Interaction Lab
(#ixlab)