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Do messages about health risks threaten the self? Increasing the acceptance of threatening health messages via self‐ affirmation
Abstract
Two studies demonstrate that self-image maintenance processes affect the acceptance of personally relevant health messages. Participants who completed a self-affirmation were less defensive and more accepting of health information. In Study 1, female participants (high vs. low relevance) read an article linking caffeine consumption to breast cancer. High-relevance women rejected the information more than did low-relevance women; however, affirmed high-relevance women accepted the information and intended to change their behavior accordingly. In Study 2, sexually active participants viewed an AIDS educational video; affirmed participants saw themselves at greater risk for HIV and purchased condoms more often than did nonaffirmed participants. Results suggest that health messages can threaten an individual’s self-image and that self-affirming techniques can increase the effectiveness of health information and lead to positive health behaviors.
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“Indirectly, it may promote more positive health behaviors by making people more open to information that they are engaging in risky health behaviors (Harris & Napper, 2005;Reed & Aspinwall, 1998;Sherman et al., 2000).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman et al., 2000
In the citing paper
“Among the participants most at risk for health problems-that is, the women who drank heavily-those who completed the self-aYrmation saw themselves as being at greater risk for breast cancer than those who were not aYrmed (as in Sherman et al., 2000), an eVect that did not diminish over time.”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman et al., 2000
In the citing paper
“When self-integrity is aYrmed, people are less biased in their judgments of information related to their political identity (Cohen et al., 2000), their health (Reed & Aspinwall, 1998;Sherman et al., 2000), and their impressions of others (Fein & Spencer, 1997;Spencer et al., 2001).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman et al., 2000
In the citing paper
“self-aYrmation studies generally find that aYrmation of important values has no eVect on self-reported mood (Fein & Spencer, 1997;Schmeichel & Martens, 2005;Sherman et al., 2000;Spencer et al., 2001)”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman et al., 2000
In the citing paper
“it is only heavy caVeine consumers who respond defensively to such a report (e.g., Kunda, 1987;Liberman and Chaiken, 1992) and who exhibit greater openness to the report when self-aYrmed (Sherman et al., 2000).”
From The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory (2006) · cites this paper as Sherman et al., 2000
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sherman, D. A. K., Nelson, L. D., & Steele, C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sherman, David A. K.
- ORCID
- Nelson, Leif D.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2000-11
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1046-1058
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- OpenAlex
- W1967215969
- Semantic Scholar
- b747c5fc770353298aaf5feb099e175dd8034ff9
- Cited by
- 660
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 40
- FWCI
- 219.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Influence and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- self-affirmation, health risk messages, message acceptance, defensive processing, message rejection, message relevance, HIV risk perception, health behavior change, HIV/AIDS education
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