When risk communication backfires: randomized controlled trial on self-affirmation and reactance to personalized risk feedback in high-risk individuals

摘要: Objective: Health promotion often faces the problem that populations with high behavioral risk profiles respond defensively to health messages by negating or reactant behavior. Self-affirmation theory proposes defensive reactions are an attempt of self-system maintain integrity. In this article, we examine whether a self-affirmation manipulation can mitigate responses personalized visual feedback in skin cancer prevention context (ultraviolet [UV] photography), and effects pertain individuals status (high personal relevance tanning). Method: We conducted full-factorial randomized controlled trial (N 292; age 11–71) following 2 design (UV photo yes/no, yes/no). Follow-up period was weeks. Subsequent tanning behavior, sun avoidance intentions, perception. Results: A multivariate analysis variance (MANOVA) revealed three-way interaction between feedback, manipulation, for three outcome measures. analyses (ANOVAs) indicated high-risk receiving only intervention reacted reported higher exposure. mitigates reactance effect both on level cognitions Conclusion: has influential implications not Social Psychology but also The findings support effectiveness reducing feedback. Interactions indicate might increase populations.