title: Framing Obesity: How News Frames Shape Attributions and Behavioral Responses.
abstract: Based on a public health model of obesity, this study set out to examine whether a news article reporting the obesity issue in a societal versus individual frame would increase perceptions of societal responsibilities for the obesity problem and motivate responsibility-taking behaviors. Responsibility-taking behaviors were examined at 3 levels: personal, interpersonal, and societal. Data from a Web-based experiment revealed significant framing effects on behaviors via causal and treatment responsibility attributions. The societal frame increased societal causal and treatment attribution, which led to greater likelihoods of interpersonal and social responsibility-taking behaviors as well as personal behaviors. Our findings suggest that news framing can be an effective venue for raising awareness of obesity as a societal issue and mobilizing collective efforts.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krakow
authors.affiliation: b School of Communications , Brigham Young University , Provo , Utah , USA.
authors.forename: Kevin K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: John
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weaver
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D058015:Health Communication / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009042:Motivation; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D012941:Social Responsibility; D055815:Young Adult