What do we mean when we say a story is realistic? At first, that may seem simple. One possibility is that realism is a characteristic of the genre – news is real and a soap opera is not. That explanation may work in many cases, but fiction is intended to capture aspects of reality that
Beyond one’s own direct experiences of the world, humans rely on communication to form impressions about the rest of reality. This fact makes communication a key to how people form their perceptions of reality. There is a rich literature grounded in communication dealing with the role of mass communication in forming individual-level judgments as well
Meta-analyses have been conducted within the last twenty years in four areas in the field of perceived social reality. Their results will be summarized here. It has to be noted from the start, though, that any meta-analysis summarizes only the existing literature at the time. The findings reported here should not be taken to reflect
Research on small group communication has a long history of examining how participation in groups affects perceived reality. Groups often create a shared reality in which to work, interact, and complete their tasks. As Herbert J. Simon (1976, 23) states, “A man does not live for months or years in a particular position in an