Narratives and the communication gap

In everyday life, individuals construct narratives by gathering observations and forming mental models to interpret them. As a result, even when considering the same topic, people may arrive at different narratives due to differences in either their observations or their mental models. In a laboratory study, we examine how individuals can form divergent narratives even when only one true narrative exists. We also investigate the role of communication between individuals with differing narratives, varying whether they share their observations or explain how they construct their narratives. This design allows us to identify why communication may fail to uncover the truth or produce consensus. Our results show that once individuals articulate their mental models, they become less likely to change their narratives.

Authors:

Simin He (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)
Sherry Li (University of Arkansas)
Junze Sun (Wuhan University)
Xinlu Zou (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)