Transportation theory (psychology)

Narrative transportation theory, proposed by Green and Brock suggests that people become immersed in a story when they experience focused attention, emotional engagement, mental imagery, and a detachment from reality while reading. In this state, individuals tend to remember the story content better, adopt beliefs and attitudes more aligned with the narrative, and engage less critically with its content.

Van Laer, de Ruyter, Visconti, and Wetzels further elaborate that narrative transportation occurs when a reader feels as if they have entered the story's world, driven by empathy for the characters and imagination of the plot. Braddock and Dillard found in their meta-analysis that familiarity with the story's content and alignment with its beliefs can modify the strength of the reader's attitudes, intentions, and beliefs after exposure.

Narrative transportation is not often referred to as a theory. In most peer-reviewed papers, it is referred to as a model. Green & Brock, Laer et al. among others all refer to this as a model. However, it does follow both Popper's and Bunge's  criteria that it is falsifiable, it does have a formal structure, it has predictable power. More definitive research on mechanisms, moderators, and mediators will be useful in strengthening the predictable nature of this theory. This is an area for future research to lay out an argument for this to be more formally referred to as a theory.