Adam S. Richards

Influence of Evidence Type and Narrative Type on HPV Risk Perception and Intention to Obtain the HPV Vaccine

This research examines the influence of evidence type (statistical, narrative, or hybrid) and narrative type (first-person or third-person) on risk perception about human papillomavirus (HPV) and behavioral intention to get the HPV vaccine. In total, 174 college students who had not received the HPV vaccine participated in a controlled experiment. Results show that the hybrid message containing both statistical and narrative descriptions of HPV resulted in greater perceived risk of getting HPV than either of the messages containing just one type of evidence—statistical or narrative. Moreover, the first-person narrative message led to greater risk perception about HPV than the third-person narrative message. Both evidence type and narrative type had an indirect effect on intention to get the HPV vaccine free of cost through HPV risk perception. Implications of the findings for vaccine risk communication are discussed.

Inoculating Against Reactance to Persuasive Health Messages

This investigation examined the possibility of decreasing psychological reactance to health campaigns through the use of inoculation messages. It was hypothesized that an inoculation message, which forewarned of the potential of subsequent reactance, would decrease participants’ likelihood of reacting negatively to a freedom-threatening message aimed to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. Participants (N = 275) who were inoculated against potential reactance felt less threatened and experienced less reactance compared to those who did not read an inoculation message. Structural equation modeling showed that inoculation indirectly predicted lower intention to drink alcohol via the theorized mediated reactance process. This research suggests that it is possible to inoculate against self-generated cognitions that might otherwise lead toward negative health behaviors.

Conversation and Conformity Orientations as Predictors of Observed Conflict Tactics in Parent-Adolescent Discussions

This research considers how observed tactics and patterns in parent-adolescent conflict relate to family orientations toward communication. Fifty families (mother, father, and mid-adolescent child) discussed family changes desired by each person. In high versus low conformity families, parents (fathers especially) pressured more, were more confrontational, and were less conciliatory, whereas children were less analytic and more apt to withdraw in response to parental demand. Fathers were especially conciliatory and analytic in families that combined high conversation orientation and low conformity (i.e., the pluralistic family type). The results confirm expected associations between family communication orientations and observed conflict patterns, suggesting that basic orientations to communication affect how families adapt to the communicative challenges of adolescence.

Message Framing, Perceived Susceptibility, and Intentions to Vaccinate Children Against HPV Among African American Parents

ABSTRACT This research examines the interaction effect of message framing (gain vs. loss) and perceived susceptibility (i.e., perceived likelihood that one’s child is at risk of contracting HPV) on African American parents’ intentions to vaccinate their children against HPV. Results of an experiment (N = 193) in which parents were exposed to either a gain-framed or loss-framed message about HPV vaccination revealed a significant interaction between message framing and perceived susceptibility when parents were required to pay for the vaccine. The specific pattern of interaction suggested that parents who perceived their children to be at high risk of contracting HPV were more persuaded by the gain-framed message, whereas those who believed their children to be at low risk of contracting HPV were more persuaded by the loss-framed message. Implications of the findings for HPV vaccination messaging are discussed.

More on Inoculating Against Reactance to Persuasive Health Messages: The Paradox of Threat

ABSTRACT This research examined the efficacy of inoculation as a strategy to mitigate psychological reactance based on the level of threat communicated in the forewarning and subsequent persuasive health appeal. Two 2 (inoculation) × 2 (freedom-threatening language) experiments were conducted. The first (N = 181) used elaborated inoculation designed to enhance the threat of impending reactance to a message advocating for responsible alcohol consumption. The second (N = 159) used limited inoculation designed to minimize the threat of impending reactance to a message advocating for responsible soft drink consumption. Results showed that elaborated inoculation increased reactance, whereas limited inoculation decreased reactance but only when the subsequent appeal used less freedom-threatening language. These findings suggest that inoculation has the potential to facilitate or buffer reactance depending on the level of threat communicated in inoculation forewarnings and in subsequent persuasive health appeals.

Imagined Interactions as Predictors of Secret Revelation and Health

This research considers how mental dialogues (or imagined interactions [IIs]) about personal secrets predict the maintenance of secrecy and associated levels of mental and physical well-being. Participants described secrets they were keeping and completed questionnaires assessing IIs about the secret. After 2 months, participants reported whether they had revealed the secret and reported on moods and physical health. Results indicated that IIs predicted future revelation, negative moods, and physical illness. Five types of secret keepers (untroubled, anticipatory, defensive, repressive, and private) were identified that reflect distinct cognitive responses to secrecy. One view of secrecy suggests that keeping secrets leads to preoccupation and anxiety that ultimately affects mental and physical health. This research confirms that a pattern of rumination and ill health represents one response to secrecy; however, people may process secrecy in different ways with different potential consequences for well-being.

Apprehension or motivation to defend attitudes? Exploring the underlying threat mechanism in inoculation-induced resistance to persuasion

ABSTRACT This study questions the traditional conceptualization of the threat component of inoculation and compares it to an alternative operationalization that was hypothesized to better capture the psychological function of threat according to inoculation theory, focusing less on an apprehensive response in favor of how inoculation treatments cognitively function to motivate resistance. Two measures of threat were contrasted by examining resistance to 9/11 Truth conspiracy propaganda. The results revealed motivational threat was conceptually distinct from the traditional threat measure, better predicted by inoculation treatments, less related to fear, more predictive of resistance to attitude change, and more supportive of inoculation theory when mediating the relationship between inoculation and resistance.

The Interaction of Issue and Image Frames on Political Candidate Assessment

This study examined the combined effect of character and policy coverage about a political candidate in news media on voters’ evaluations and thoughts about the candidate. A 2 (issue coverage: present/absent) × 2 (image coverage: present/absent) between-subject factorial experiment was conducted whereby participants (N = 134) read a version of an editorial article that varied in the coverage of a candidate’s character and policy positions. Results indicated that issue and image coverage, each in isolation, enhanced perceptions of the candidate’s image strength and issue strength. However, issue and image coverage when presented in combination compared to in isolation did not enhance perceptions of the candidate and in some cases hindered perceptions of candidate strength. When both coverage types were present, issue coverage dominated image coverage when participants formed image evaluations, whereas image coverage dominated issue coverage when they formed issue evaluations. Similar findings resulted for issue- and image-relevant thoughts. Implications about the effects of multicoverage political messages are discussed.

A Cognitive Model of Argument, With Application to the Base-Rate Phenomenon and Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory

In the 1970s, Hample developed a successful model of intrapersonal argument. Loosely based on the law of total probability, the model used a normatively correct standard to predict people’s adherence to persuasive claims. That original research used single-item measures that could not be assessed for internal consistency. The present study estimates the reliabilities of the appropriate measures so that corrections for attenuation can be made. In addition, the study exploits the base-rate fallacy to encourage formation of bad premises and perhaps bad reasoning. Results show that Hample’s original model is indeed accurate and that his original results understated people’s rationality in persuasive situations. The base-rate effect was confined to improper premises; given people’s premises, they continued to reason rationally. The model was equally accurate for high experientials and high rationals, in Epstein’s terminology.

Assessing the Structure of Efficacy and Outcome Expectancies in the Decision to Disclose Secrets: A Comparison of Contrasting Theories

This investigation examined the process by which people decide to disclose secrets. Two competing models tested the order that people consider outcome expectancies and efficacy assessments when making disclosure decisions. Participants (N = 349) answered questions about a currently held secret and related cognitions. Two months later, people indicated whether they disclosed the secret by that time. Communication efficacy and outcome expectancies predicted disclosure in both models, but coping efficacy only predicted disclosure when modeled exogenously to outcome expectancies. Model comparisons provided moderate support for the latter model as more preferable, suggesting that outcome expectancies may mediate the effect of communication and coping efficacy on the decision to disclose secrets.