The DOI matches its Crossref record; 75 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The impact of self-affirmation on health-behavior change: A meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: Self-affirmation (induced by reflecting upon important values, attributes, or social relations) appears to reduce defensive resistance to health-risk information and increase subsequent readiness for health behavior change. However, these effects of self-affirmation have yet to be subjected to formal, quantitative integration. Consequently, the current article reports a meta-analysis of the impact of self-affirmation on outcomes at 3 key points in the process of health-behavior change: (a) message acceptance, (b) intentions to change, and (c) subsequent behavior. METHOD: The literature search identified 144 experimental tests of the effects of manipulating self-affirmation on these outcomes. Effect sizes were extracted and meta-analyzed. RESULTS: Across 34 tests of message acceptance (N = 3,433), 64 tests of intentions (N = 5,564), and 46 tests of behavior (N = 2,715), random effects models indicated small but reliable positive effects of self-affirmation on each outcome: acceptance, d+ = .17(CI = .03 to .31); intentions, d+ = .14 (CI = .05 to .23); behavior, d+ = .32 (CI = .19 to .44). Findings held across a range of health problems and behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that deploying self-affirmation inductions alongside persuasive health information has positive effects, promoting message acceptance, intentions to change, and subsequent behavior. Though the effects are small in magnitude, they are comparable to those obtained in meta-analyses of other health-behavior change interventions. These findings are relevant to researchers and practitioners working to understand why people resist beneficial health information and how such resistance can be reduced.
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“In a meta-analysis, Epton et al. (2014) found that deploying SA inductions together with persuasive health information promoted message acceptance, intention to change, and subsequent positive behavior.”
From Effects of a Brief Preventive Intervention in Cyberbullying and Grooming in Adolescents (2021) · cites this paper as Epton et al., 2014
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Health Behavior Change: Moving from Observation to Intervention
Sheeran, P., Klein, W. M. P., & Rothman, A. J. (2016) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044007 · Cited by 476
Unique effects of setting goals on behavior change: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Epton, T., Currie, S., & Armitage, C. J. (2017) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/ccp0000260 · Cited by 383
“Where studies measured behavior at multiple time points, we adopted the conservative strategy of calculating the effect size only for the measure at the final time-point (e.g., Epton et al., 2015; Sheeran, Harris, & Epton, 2014).”
MethodResultInfluentialHennessy, E. A., Johnson, B. T., Acabchuk, R. L., McCloskey, K., & Stewart-James, J. (2019) · Health Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1679654 · Cited by 262
Self-Affirmation Reduces Delay Discounting of the Financially Deprived
Moeini‐Jazani, M., Albalooshi, S., & Seljeseth, I. M. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01729 · Cited by 221
Engagement in digital interventions.
Nahum-Shani, I., Shaw, S. D., Carpenter, S. M., Murphy, S. A., & Yoon, C. (2022) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/amp0000983 · Cited by 177
Metadata
- Authors
- Epton, T., Harris, P. R., Kane, R., van Koningsbruggen, G. M., & Sheeran, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Venue
- Health Psychology
- Published
- 2015
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 187-196
- ISSN
- 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-7810
- OpenAlex
- W2023653705
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 9
- FWCI
- 30.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Influence and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- self-affirmation, health behavior change, message acceptance, health risk information, persuasive health communication
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Persuasive Communication, Health Behavior, Self Efficacy, Intention, Young Adult
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