Motivational and behavioural consequences of self-affirmation interventions: a study of sunscreen use among women.
The reported study compared the efficacy of three self-affirmation manipulations in reducing defensive processing and instigating behaviour change in response to personally relevant information about the health risks of sunbathing. White female sunbathers (N = 162) were recruited on a beach in the south of England. Participants were randomly allocated to a 'values affirmation' condition, a 'kindness affirmation' condition, a 'positive traits affirmation' condition, or a no affirmation 'control' condition. In the 'positive traits affirmation' condition the self-affirmation task was incorporated into a leaflet presenting the health risk information. Findings supported the hypothesis that participants in the three self-affirmation conditions would engage in less-defensive processing of the health-risk information than those in the 'control' condition. For the behavioural measure, however, only those participants in the 'positive traits affirmation' condition were more likely to request a free sample of sunscreen than those in the control condition. The implications of these findings for self-affirmation theory and the development of effective health promotion campaigns are discussed.
Jessop
D C
DC
Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom. d.jessop@sussex.ac.uk
Simmonds
L V
LV
Sparks
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012649:Self Concept; D012945:Social Values; D055108:Sunbathing / Q000523:psychology*; D013473:Sunscreening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D055815:Young Adult
D013473:Sunscreening Agents