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Wilding et al 2016 - The question-behaviour effect - A theoretical and methodological review and meta-analysis.pdf (2.86 MB)

The question-behaviour effect: a theoretical and methodological review and meta-analysis

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posted on 2023-06-09, 03:59 authored by Sarah Wilding, Mark Conner, Tracy Sandberg, Andrew Prestwich, Rebecca Lawton, Chantelle Wood, Eleanor MilesEleanor Miles, Gaston Godin, Paschal Sheeran
Research has demonstrated that asking people questions about a behaviour can lead to behaviour change. Despite many, varied studies in different domains, it is only recently that this phenomenon has been studied under the umbrella term of the question-behaviour effect (QBE) and moderators of the effect have been investigated. With a particular focus on our own contributions, this article: (1) provides an overview of QBE research; (2) reviews and offers new evidence concerning three theoretical accounts of the QBE (behavioural simulation and processing fluency; attitude accessibility; cognitive dissonance); (3) reports a new meta-analysis of QBE studies (k = 66, reporting 94 tests) focusing on methodological moderators. The findings of this meta-analysis support a small significant effect of the QBE (g = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.11, 0.18, p < .001) with smaller effect sizes observed in more carefully controlled studies that exhibit less risk of bias and (4) also considers directions for future research on the QBE, especially studies that use designs with low risk of bias and consider desirable and undesirable behaviour separately.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

European Review of Social Psychology

ISSN

1046-3283

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

1

Volume

27

Page range

196-230

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-11-14

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-11-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-11-11

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