title: Self-affirmation increases defensiveness toward health risk information among those experiencing negative emotions: Results from two national samples.
abstract: Self-affirmation can promote health behavior change and yield long-term improvements in health via its effect on receptiveness to risk information in behavior change interventions. Across 2 studies, we examined whether the emotional state of the person presented with health risk information moderates self-affirmation effectiveness.
  
  
  
  Data were collected from 2 U.S. national samples (n = 652, n = 448) via GfK, an Internet-based survey company. Female alcohol consumers completed an emotion induction (fear, anger, or neutral). They then completed a standard self-affirmation (or no-affirmation) essay-writing task, and subsequently received a health message linking alcohol to breast cancer.
  
  
  
  There was a significant interaction between emotion and self-affirmation conditions, such that self-affirmation reduced the specificity of health behavior change plans among those experiencing negative emotion (Study 1: B = -0.55, p < .001), with consistent but not significant effects for anger (Study 2: B = -.47, p = .069. Among self-affirmed participants, essays were rated as significantly less self-affirming for individuals experiencing negative emotion (or anger). Mediation analyses limited to the self-affirmation condition revealed an indirect effect of negative emotion condition on health behavior change plan specificity via self-affirmation ratings of essay content in Study 1: β = 0.04, p = .041.
  
  
  
  The salutary effect of self-affirmation on plan specificity was reversed with negative emotion. These findings may be attributed to disruption of the self-affirmation process. Individuals who enter interventions using self-affirmation in a negative emotion state may be less prepared to benefit from other intervention content, and may even be less likely to change health behaviors as a result of the intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute.
authors.forename: William M P
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: ehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute.
authors.forename: Kaitlin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Graff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000786:Anger; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States