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HARRIS_Applied_Psychology_Health_and_Well-Being_FEB_2022.pdf (334.29 kB)

Taking advantage of multiple identities to reduce defensiveness to personally threatening health messages

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posted on 2023-06-10, 02:50 authored by Jérôme Blondé, Matthew EasterbrookMatthew Easterbrook, Pete HarrisPete Harris, Fabien Girandola, Achot Khalafian
A host of studies have shown that self-relevant health messages may result in increased defensiveness and rejection of protective recommendations. Drawing on research showing that multiple identities offer psychological resources to deal with identity threats, we sought to examine whether the salience of an alternative identity before people are exposed to a personally relevant health message may buffer the threat and reduce defensive responses. Two studies were conducted on samples of daily smokers asked to read an antismoking message before completing a range of measures of defensiveness. Half of the participants had an alternative identity made salient beforehand (vs. no salience condition). Consistent with our hypotheses, Study 1 (N?=?90) showed that this manipulation significantly reduced defensiveness to the message. Study 2 (N?=?95) additionally showed that such effects only occurred when the alternative identity overlapped highly with the threatened identity. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being

ISSN

1758-0846

Publisher

Wiley

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2022-03-08

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2023-03-09

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2022-03-07

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