Psychological insight as an effect of inspiring narratives: validating the psychological insight self-report scale

Abstract This article presents the results of two experiments in which participants were exposed to audiovisual narratives (Study 1, N = 245) and to short written narratives (Study 2, N = 360) with high or low inspiring potential so as to validate a measurement instrument to assess psychological insight (Psychological Insight Self-Report Scale). Insight is defined as a reception process involving sudden discovery and the sensation of experiencing a state of enlightenment or inner revelation through exposure to inspiring narratives. The results of our research confirm the structural, criterion, construct, and incremental validity of the scale. Our work furthers the advancement of media entertainment research regarding the impact of eudaimonic messages by providing a new construct (psychological insight) to explain the effects of inspiring narratives.