The story effect: Identification as a key mediator of persuasion in climate change narratives

Introduction: This study investigates the psychological mechanisms underlying narrative persuasion in climate change communication, focusing on narrative voice (first- versus third-person), narrative transport, character identification, and individual predispositions.Methods: In an online experiment with 143 Italian participants, readers were randomly assigned to one of two groups based on the narrative version they read: a first-person or a third-person narrative group, both with identical content and structure. Measures of transport, identification, affect, eco-anxiety, empathy, and post-exposure climate attitudes were collected.Results: Regarding group differences, the results showed no overall differences in persuasion, transport, or identification between the first- and third-person narrative groups. However, participants in the first-person narrative group showed significantly higher agreement with statements about local climate impacts than those in the third-person narrative group. Correlation and regression analyses were also conducted. Identification with the protagonist emerged as the strongest predictor of pro-climate attitudes, while transport was only positively correlated with them. Persuasive effects were further modulated by individual levels of eco-anxiety and empathy, especially in the first-person condition.Discussion: This study highlights identification with characters as a key mechanism of narrative persuasion, outweighing formal features such as narrative voice. It also shows that reductions in psychological distance are strongly moderated by individual differences, particularly empathy and eco-anxiety. Overall, these findings suggest that the effectiveness of climate narratives depends on the interaction between message characteristics and recipient predispositions.