RESPONDIENDO A LA PERSUASIÓN NARRATIVA SOBRE EL CONSUMO DE CANNABIS: UN ESTUDIO CUALITATIVO.

The persuasive effects of narratives have been studied in different areas. One of the most studied mechanisms is the counterargument based on cognitive or meta-cognitive approaches. This study aims to analyze the resistance to persuasion in an interpersonal context to know how young people generate their arguments when they are exposed to narrative persuasion directed at preventing cannabis abuse. Two focus groups of six students aged 16-20 years for each gender were organized (n=24) who participated in a discussion after viewing a storytelling video in which a character showed a transitional behavior from the beginning to the cessation of cannabis use. The qualitative analysis allowed to find a central category "responding to narrative persuasion", connected to four styles of responses: a) elaboration; b) counterarguing; c) reelaboration; and d) refutation. To support these responses, participants introduced narrative elements referring to personal experiences or those of other people, as well as inferential elements by introducing new issues into the discussion; argumentative schemes that were used to justify the positions adopted were also identified. The study has theoretical-practical implications for those researches and interventions which use narrative persuasion as a tool to prevent cannabis use in young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]