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Introduction <p>Compassion has often been identified as a mechanism in narrative-based interventions designed to reduce abortion stigma. High-context narratives, which provide personal details and background about women seeking abortion, are assumed to elicit prosocial emotions and improve abortion attitudes. However, prior evidence suggests that such interventions frequently show weak or inconsistent effects, and little is known about how compassion interacts with underlying reproductive autonomy beliefs.</p> Methods <p>I conducted an online randomized experiment with a sample of Polish adults (N = 1,712). Participants were presented with four scenarios of women seeking abortion, each framed in a high- or low-context narrative. High-context narratives included personal background and potential negative consequences of continuing the pregnancy, while low-context narratives presented minimal information. Logistic regression models tested the three-way interaction between compassion, reproductive autonomy beliefs, and narrative context, controlling for gender and religiosity.</p> Results <p>Single exposure to high-context narratives produced small but meaningful shifts in abortion approval. Support increased in the economic hardship and abusive relationship scenarios, but decreased in the career-oriented scenario. The three-way interaction between narrative context, compassion, and reproductive autonomy was not statistically significant in any scenario. Among respondents with high reproductive autonomy, abortion support remained stable across levels of compassion, but the influence of narrative context varied by scenario, with high- versus low-context conditions producing opposite effect in the career and abusive relationship scenarios. By contrast, among those with low reproductive autonomy, greater compassion was consistently associated with a decline in abortion support, and high- versus low-context conditions made no difference across scenarios.</p> Conclusions <p>High-context abortion narratives can shape public attitudes, but their effects are conditional and context-dependent. Compassion is not a universal pathway to reducing abortion stigma; rather, its influence is moderated by reproductive autonomy beliefs and shaped by the perceived legitimacy of abortion circumstances.</p> Policy Implications <p>Interventions that rely on compassion-based narratives should not assume uniform effectiveness across audiences. Such narratives may have no effect on individuals who reject reproductive autonomy. Policy initiatives and advocacy strategies should therefore tailor message framing to ideological orientations, highlighting abortion in contexts perceived as socially legitimate (e.g., abuse, hardship) while avoiding reliance on compassion alone as a mechanism of attitude change.</p>

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Why Narrative Interventions May Fail To Shift Negative Individual-Level Abortion Attitudes: A Potential Explanation

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  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月10日

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  • Alicja Zawistowska

摘要

Introduction

Compassion has often been identified as a mechanism in narrative-based interventions designed to reduce abortion stigma. High-context narratives, which provide personal details and background about women seeking abortion, are assumed to elicit prosocial emotions and improve abortion attitudes. However, prior evidence suggests that such interventions frequently show weak or inconsistent effects, and little is known about how compassion interacts with underlying reproductive autonomy beliefs.

Methods

I conducted an online randomized experiment with a sample of Polish adults (N = 1,712). Participants were presented with four scenarios of women seeking abortion, each framed in a high- or low-context narrative. High-context narratives included personal background and potential negative consequences of continuing the pregnancy, while low-context narratives presented minimal information. Logistic regression models tested the three-way interaction between compassion, reproductive autonomy beliefs, and narrative context, controlling for gender and religiosity.

Results

Single exposure to high-context narratives produced small but meaningful shifts in abortion approval. Support increased in the economic hardship and abusive relationship scenarios, but decreased in the career-oriented scenario. The three-way interaction between narrative context, compassion, and reproductive autonomy was not statistically significant in any scenario. Among respondents with high reproductive autonomy, abortion support remained stable across levels of compassion, but the influence of narrative context varied by scenario, with high- versus low-context conditions producing opposite effect in the career and abusive relationship scenarios. By contrast, among those with low reproductive autonomy, greater compassion was consistently associated with a decline in abortion support, and high- versus low-context conditions made no difference across scenarios.

Conclusions

High-context abortion narratives can shape public attitudes, but their effects are conditional and context-dependent. Compassion is not a universal pathway to reducing abortion stigma; rather, its influence is moderated by reproductive autonomy beliefs and shaped by the perceived legitimacy of abortion circumstances.

Policy Implications

Interventions that rely on compassion-based narratives should not assume uniform effectiveness across audiences. Such narratives may have no effect on individuals who reject reproductive autonomy. Policy initiatives and advocacy strategies should therefore tailor message framing to ideological orientations, highlighting abortion in contexts perceived as socially legitimate (e.g., abuse, hardship) while avoiding reliance on compassion alone as a mechanism of attitude change.