title: Effects of responsibility attribution and message source on young adults' health attitudes and behaviors.
abstract: This study investigated the effect of message attributes on responses to health messages. The authors examined 3 variables--responsibility attribution (individual vs. social), source (personal blog vs. online magazine), and illness (stigmatized vs. nonstigmatized)--for effects on young adults' health-related attitudes and behaviors. Responsibility attributions influenced attitudes about individual responsibility for health but did not alter participants' behavioral intentions. Further, individuals exposed to a story from a health magazine exhibited stronger intentions to communicate about health than individuals exposed to a personal health blog. Although women's attitudes regarding social responsibility for health did not differ by illness type or responsibility attribution, men's attitudes did.
authors.affiliation: Boiarsky Consulting, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boiarsky
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rouner
authors.forename: Marilee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D057218:Blogging; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D058015:Health Communication; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D012737:Sex Factors; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult