The dimensionality and cross-cultural invariance of narrative transportability: evidence from 50 countries and 21 languages

Abstract

Narrative transportability (an individual difference in the extent to which a person becomes immersed in stories) is an important construct in communication science and related fields. However, the dimensionality and cross-cultural invariance of transportability are underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a study with a widely used narrative transportability scale and 8,814 participants from 50 countries and 21 languages. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 2,644) indicated a four-dimensional structure: Cognitive Involvement, Cognitive-Emotional Imagination, Sensory Imagination, and Personal Involvement. A confirmatory factor analysis (n = 6,170) and configural, metric, and scalar invariance testing supported this structure and its cross-cultural stability. These results have critical implications for the understanding of narrative transportability and highlight the value of cross-cultural research on narrative experience. To support such future research, professionally translated versions of the validated scale in 20 languages, along with the English original, are made publicly available on the project’s OSF page.