In the United States, a growing number of television shows have introduced storylines involving abortion and reproductive health which have the potential to inform and educate viewers. In light of this increase in both the number and diversity of representations, there remain questions regarding their impact on audience attitudes toward this contentious issue. Using a 3 (character disposition) x 2 (consent status) experiment (N = 520), this study examines the influence of a storyline from the television show 13 Reasons Why. By manipulating both the context of the sexual encounter (a narrative feature) and the main character’s affective disposition (a character feature), the study sought to better understand the role such contextual features play in shaping the audience’s response, both directly as well as through their influences on identification. The findings indicate a need for caution in presenting controversial issues on screen: a worrying asymmetry emerged, where negative contextual features promoted less favorable attitudes while positive features had no observable effect. Consequently, abortion depictions could potentially contribute to anti-abortion sentiments if the focal characters are not presented sympathetically and favorably. Thus, enhancing the appeal of these representations should be of paramount importance for conscientious storytellers and practitioners.

在美国，越来越多的电视节目引入了涉及堕胎和生殖健康的故事情节，这些故事有可能为观众提供信息和教育。鉴于陈述的数量和多样性都在增加，关于它们对观众对这个有争议问题的态度的影响仍然存在疑问。使用 3（角色性格） x 2（同意状态）实验 ( N = 520)，本研究检验了电视节目13 个原因的故事情节的影响。通过操纵性接触的背景（一个叙事特征）和主角的情感倾向（一个角色特征），该研究试图更好地理解这种上下文特征在塑造观众反应中所起的作用，无论是直接还是通过它们对识别的影响。研究结果表明，在屏幕上呈现有争议的问题时需要谨慎：出现了令人担忧的不对称性，负面的上下文特征促进了不太有利的态度，而正面的特征没有明显的影响。因此，如果焦点人物没有同情和有利地呈现，堕胎描述可能会助长反堕胎情绪。因此，增强这些表现形式的吸引力对于认真的讲故事者和从业者来说至关重要。