Attitudes and persuasion Crano, William D; Prislin, Radmila
Annual review of psychology,
01/2006, Letnik:
57
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Study of attitudes and persuasion remains a defining characteristic of contemporary social psychology. This review outlines recent advances, with emphasis on the relevance of today's work for ...perennial issues. We reiterate the distinction between attitude formation and change, and show its relevance for persuasion. Single- and dual-process models are discussed, as are current views on dissonance theory. Majority and minority influence are scrutinized, with special emphasis on integrative theoretical innovations. Attitude strength is considered, and its relevance to ambivalence and resistance documented. Affect, mood, and emotion effects are reviewed, especially as they pertain to fear arousal and (un)certainty. Finally, we discuss attitude-behavior consistency, perhaps the reason for our interest in attitudes in the first place, with emphasis on self-interest and the theory of planned behavior. Our review reflects the dynamism and the reach of the area, and suggests a sure and sometimes rapid accumulation of knowledge and understanding.
There are many reasons why individuals with depression may not seek help. Among those with elevated depressive symptomatology, some previous interventions aimed at increasing help-seeking have ...unintentionally decreased help-seeking intentions. Beck's cognitive theory of depression posits that individuals with elevated depressive symptomatology process information differently from those without depression (i.e., increased cognitive errors, negative bias); potentially explaining the iatrogenic results of previous interventions. Mental contrasting and implementation intentions (MCII; a self-regulatory strategy) interventions have successfully influenced physical and mental health behaviors. However, MCII has not been used specifically for initiating help-seeking for depression. The goal of this research was to ascertain whether an online MCII intervention could increase
help-seeking or the
to seek help for depression.
Two online randomized pre-post experiments were conducted to measure the primary outcome measures 2 weeks post-intervention (Study 1 collected Summer 2019: information-only control "C", help-seeking MCII intervention "HS", and comparison MCII intervention "E"; Study 2 collected Winter 2020: "C" and "HS"). At Time 1, adults recruited from MTurk had a minimum Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) score of 14 (mild depressive symptoms) and were not seeking professional help.
Study 1 (
= 74) indicated that the intervention was feasible, provided preliminary support, and clarified intervention components for Study 2. Study 2 (
= 224) indicated that the HS group reported greater
to seek help and
help-seeking than the C group. Proportionally,
help-seeking was more likely among individuals who received the HS intervention and either did not
themselves as depressed at Time 2 or had BDI-II scores indicating that their depressive symptomatology decreased from Time 1.
Participation was limited to US residents who self-reported data.
These studies indicate that a brief online MCII intervention to encourage help-seeking is feasible and preliminarily successful. Future studies should consider using ecological momentary assessment measurements to establish the temporal precedence of intervention effects and whether MCII is effective for encouraging help-seeking among individuals prone to experiencing cognitive errors who may not be experiencing negative bias (e.g., bipolar disorder or anxiety). Clinicians may find this method successful in encouraging ongoing treatment engagement.
Abstract Objective This study examined relations between adolescents' family structures, social ties, and drug-related attitudes, and their misuse of prescription opioids and stimulants. Different ...relationships were anticipated for the substances based on prior research highlighting varying motivations for their use. Method Based on an earlier model of adolescent substance misuse, two path analytic models were tested using data from 12 to 17 year olds in the 2012 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH: N = 17,399). Results Female respondents reported higher levels of parental warmth, as did youth from wealthier families. Greater parental monitoring was reported by adolescents from wealthier and intact families. Parental monitoring and warmth predicted adolescents' social ties and individual differences associated with drug use, and both variables predicted prescription opioid and stimulant misuse. Contrary to previous research, for adolescents aged 12 to 14, high levels of parental monitoring, while positively associated with attitudes and social ties, also predicted higher rates of prescription stimulant misuse when combined with low levels of parental warmth. Results were cross-validated with data from the 2011 NSDUH. Conclusions Analyses highlighted the importance of understanding and differentiating the underlying factors associated with adolescent prescription stimulant and opioid misuse, and the role of parental behaviors in prevention.
Parental monitoring is commonly accredited as an important protective factor against risky adolescent behaviors. In this meta-analytic review, associations of adolescents' perceptions of parental ...monitoring with adolescent marijuana use were collected and quantified across 25 independent samples from 17 empirical studies involving 35,367 unique participants. Applying a randomeffects model, the average magnitude of effect was r = — .21. The association was significantly stronger in femaleonly samples (r = —.31 vs. r = —.19, p < .001) and when parental monitoring was defined purely in terms of parental knowledge of the child 9 s whereabouts, activities, and relations (r = —.24 vs. r = —.19, p < .05). Crosssectional (r = —.23) and longitudinal studies (r = —.10) disclosed significant effect sizes. To assess publication bias, a file-drawer analysis indicated that 7,358 studies of nil effect size would be necessary to render the association of parental monitoring and reduced marijuana usage nonsignificant. Theoretical and practical implications of parental monitoring are discussed, especially issues concerning the measurement of parental monitoring and the possible utility of the construct in curtailing marijuana use.
The Context Comparison Model
(CCM) provides a promising avenue to guide persuasive communication development by highlighting the features of the communication context that require consideration, ...including
source
,
target
, and
task
variables. The model was tested in a study of global climate change. American participants read a text outlining scientific evidence for global climate change and a policy proposal to mitigate future climate change. Prior to reading the text, participants’ completed measures of their political affiliation (Republican, Democrats, Independent or Other) to render their group memberships salient. They were randomly assigned to one of four source conditions: (a) ingroup minority; (b) ingroup majority; (c) outgroup minority; or (d) outgroup minority. Participants completed pre- and post-measures of attitudes and the plausibility of climate change. Pretest scores revealed that global climate change attitudes were held less strongly by Republicans than Democrats. In line with expectations, participants’ subjective attitudes were more influenced by ingroup sources, and larger persuasive effects were obtained for ingroup minorities. For the plausibility of climate change, participants were more persuaded by an outgroup source, and larger effects were evident for outgroup majorities. Results were precisely predicted by the CCM. Their implications for science communication were discussed.
Binge drinking is associated with many health and financial costs and is linked to risks of legal consequences. As alcohol use typically is initiated during adolescence, the current study assessed ...the relationship between parental behaviors and strategies in forecasting adolescents’ likelihood of binge drinking and later arrest. Restricted data from waves I–IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to assess hypotheses. A weighted path analytic model (
N
= 9421) provided a multifaceted picture of variables linked to later antisocial behavior. Low parental monitoring, low parental warmth, parent alcohol use, and parent expectancies regarding their children’s alcohol use were associated with higher incidence of adolescent binge drinking. In turn, low monitoring, low warmth, parent alcohol use, parent expectancies, and underage consumption were associated with binge drinking in early adulthood. Binge drinking during both adolescence and young adulthood were predictive of respondents’ likelihood of arrest 8–14 years later. Findings demonstrated the substantial, enduring effects of parental behaviors on child alcohol-related actions and have implications for parent-targeted interventions designed to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. They suggest campaigns focus on parenting strategies that involve setting effective and strict alcohol-related rules and guidelines, while maintaining a warm and supportive family environment.
This study assessed the moderating effects of attitude ambivalence on the relationship between social norms, attitudes, and behavioral intentions to use tobacco. It was predicted that people would ...use social norms to reduce attitude ambivalence, and that reduced ambivalence would lead to changes in attitudes and behavioral intentions. To test this hypothesis, participants (N = 152) were exposed to persuasive communications designed to influence attitude ambivalence and perceived social norms regarding tobacco use. Analysis indicated that providing a social norm antagonistic to tobacco use significantly reduced ambivalence among participants reading the ambivalence message (p < .001). Examining changes in tobacco attitudes from pre- to postpersuasive communications demonstrated a significant decrease in tobacco attitudes only for participants reading the ambivalence message who were provided with the antitobacco use norm (p < .001). Ambivalent message participants also expressed significantly lower intentions to use tobacco when provided with social norms indicating antitobacco sentiments (p < .02), and this significant decrease in intentions was associated with changes in attitudes toward tobacco. These results point to the important role of social norms in mediating the effects of attitude ambivalence on subsequent behavior in preventative programs targeting tobacco use.
Research on adolescents focuses increasingly on features of the family in predicting and preventing illicit substance use. Multivariate analyses of data from the National Survey of Parents and Youth ...(N = 4173) revealed numerous significant differences on risk variables associated with family structure on adolescent drug-related perceptions and substance use. Youth from dual-parent households were least likely to use drugs and were monitored more closely than single-parent youth (p < 0.001). A path analytic model estimated to illuminate linkages among theoretically implicated variables revealed that family income and child's gender (p < 0.001), along with family structure (p < 0.05), affected parental monitoring, but not parental warmth. Monitoring and warmth, in turn, predicted adolescents' social and interpersonal perceptions of drug use (p < 0.001), and both variables anticipated adolescents' actual drug use one year later (p < 0.001). Results reconfirm the importance of parental monitoring and warmth and demonstrate the link between these variables, adolescents' social and intrapersonal beliefs, and their use of illicit substances.
•Two studies examined if vested interest (VI) moderated attitude-intention consistency.•Study 1 (MTurk) focused on stimulants; Study 2 (classroom), marijuana.•Low VI was associated with lower ...intentions when attitudes were moderate or favorable.•The same pattern of results emerged regardless of sample or drug examined.•Given the potential upside, studies that assess the causal relationships are needed.
Vested interest (VI) has been found to enhance attitude-behavior consistency in several contexts. With an eye toward a potentially novel method of prevention (i.e., reducing perceived VI to minimize attitude-behavior consistency among those positively inclined toward psychotropic substance use), the current investigation explores whether VI moderates attitude-intention consistency regarding nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NUPS) and marijuana.
Emphasizing prevention, the study focused exclusively on non-users. Study 1a assessed college students (N = 310) attitudes, VI, and intentions regarding NUPS among those with no prior NUPS experience. Respondents were sampled using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Study 1b investigated marijuana-abstinent college students (N = 93), recruited from college classrooms.
The pattern of results was similar in both studies. In addition to an association between attitudes and VI, analysis revealed main effects for attitudes and VI on substance use intentions. Moreover, VI moderated the attitude-intention relationship (p < .01). Attitudes were most weakly associated with usage intentions when perceptions of VI were low (vs. moderate or strong).
Results of these studies replicate and expand prior findings relating VI to drug use, and suggest a potential path for future prevention efforts. The current study was cross-sectional, however if the causal pathways are as theorized, an intervention that reduces subjective VI has the potential to reduce positive attitudes while simultaneously reducing the influence of favorable attitudes on intentions.
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