Engaging the Dark Side: Exploring Identification with Morally Complex Antagonists

Abstract

This work investigates what factors prompt audience members to engage with morally complex antagonists and examines potential real-world attitudinal outcomes of such engagement. A two-part experimental study (n = 140) examines whether the revelation timing of a character’s immoral behavior in a fictional narrative (late reveal versus early reveal) and a person’s morality salience (vice salience versus virtue salience) impact identification with a morally complex antagonist. Further, real-world attitudinal outcomes of antagonist identification are examined. Results demonstrated that identification with a fictional, morally complex antagonist can significantly impact real-world attitudes toward criminals. Additionally, revelation timing predicted identification with a fictional antagonist for male participants, but not for female participants, indicating a need for future research to investigate potential gender differences for identification with morally complex antagonists. A person’s own morality salience, however, did not significantly impact identification with a fictional antagonist. Overall, this work demonstrates that exposure to fictional narratives and identification with morally complex antagonists can affect real-world attitudes, and gives direction for future research to better understand the mechanisms that drive engagement with antagonists in narratives.