Ryan Goei

The Roles of Obligation and Gratitude in Explaining the Effect of Favors on Compliance This paper is based on the first author's doctoral dissertation and was presented at the International Communication Association's 54th annual convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2004.

Several studies suggest that providing a favor to a target before making a direct request for compliance is more effective than making a direct request alone. The most widely accepted explanation for this effect is that receiving favors causes beneficiaries to feel obligated to repay. Another potential explanation is that beneficiaries comply out of gratitude to the benefactor. Past conceptualizations frequently confound obligation and gratitude and no research tests these alternative explanations. We advance the study of reciprocal behavior by making conceptual distinctions between obligation and gratitude, and testing these two presumed mediating states in two experiments. Results demonstrate that obligation and gratitude can be empirically distinguished, supporting the gratitude explanation, but not the obligation explanation.

An Examination of EPPM Predictions When Threat Is Perceived Externally: An Asthma Intervention With School Workers

Little research informs the use of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) of persuasion when threat and efficacy judgments are rendered for someone other than the message recipient. Nevertheless, a wide range of health promotion consists of influencing such judgments. Two studies examine the utility of using the EPPM in a context involving threats to others. Results show that the expected measurement models hold in this new context, and that an additive model is a stronger fit than a multiplicative one when considering how threat and efficacy combine to affect behavioral intentions but not when considering behavior. The study also examines the effects of a print intervention implemented with school employees in Michigan derived from the EPPM. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical import and their application in this new context.

The Effects of Favor and Apology on Compliance

This study was designed to test the effects of favor and apology on compliance and to explain any potential effect via indebtedness, gratitude, and liking. Two experiments were devised to accomplish these ends. In the first experiment favor and apology were varied in the absence of a transgression to see if apologizing for not providing a favor can be used proactively to increase compliance. In the second experiment favor and apology were varied in a more common scenario, following a transgression. Results show that favor has a positive effect on compliance mediated by gratitude when using a general prosocial request and by liking when using a more altruistic request. Results also suggest that apology has a positive effect on liking and that apology has an indirect effect on compliance under certain conditions.

Predicted outcome value theory in ongoing relationships

Theory and research reported in this paper provide both theoretical and methodological advances in the study of predicted outcome value theory (POV) in established, ongoing relationships. From a theoretical perspective, POV, previously a theory focused solely on initial interaction behaviors and consequences, is extended into the realm of ongoing relationships. The propositions of the theory are reformulated and hypotheses derived from them are tested. Overall, the results strongly support this extension and shed new light on its role in understanding the effect of unexpected events. Methodologically, the study provides a longitudinal approach for assessing ongoing relationships both before and after the occurrence of an unexpected event.

Reciprocity and Dating: Explaining the Effects of Favor and Status on Compliance With a Date Request

A robust finding in compliance-seeking message effects research is that providing an unsolicited favor to a target before making a direct request for compliance is more effective than a direct request alone. Explaining this effect, however, has proven a more elusive goal. Most existing studies either do not examine potential mediators of the favor-compliance relationship or restrict their focus to one or two potential mediators. In this study, the authors extend compliance research by testing five potential explanations for the favor-compliance relationship and examine the relationship in an untested context, a cross-sex date request. We also examine the impact of another important predictor of compliance, socioeconomic status (SES). Findings suggest that favor and SES interact to affect compliance with a date request and that the positive affective mechanisms of gratitude, liking, and physical attraction best explain these effects. Implications for understanding human reciprocal behavior and its explanatory mechanisms are discussed.

An Evaluation of the Peer Helper Component of Go !: A Multimessage, Multi-“step” Obesity Prevention Intervention

Background Obesity prevention efforts typically involve changing eating and exercise behaviors as well as the physical and social environment in which those behaviors occur. Due to existing social networks, worksites are a logical choice for implementing such interventions. Purpose This article describes the development and implementation of a peer helper intervention, which was part of a multicomponent obesity prevention program conducted at a hospital worksite. It also presents qualitative evaluation findings of peer helper perceptions, roles, and institutional outcomes. Methods Fifty-one male and female employees were recruited to promote healthy eating and physical activity amongst their peers. They received health and communication skill-building training. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 peer helpers to evaluate this component of the intervention. Results Findings showed that peer helpers took on many helping roles, became effective role models, and contributed to creating health-promoting social and environmental changes at work. Discussion We found evidence for synergies between the peer helper component and other components of the campaign and present recommendations and questions related to best practices for peer helper interventions at worksites. Translation to Health Education Practice Training on the use of peer helpers and the incorporation of peer helper components into interventions is needed.

An Assessment of Violence Prevention and Intervention Programs in Michigan: Policy and Programmatic Insights and Implications

In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 134 individuals from violent crime prevention and intervention programs in Michigan. Primary areas of inquiry included program focus and activities, target audience characteristics, research and evaluation efforts, and barriers and needs for successful implementation. The three most common programmatic areas dealt with violent crimes against women, and the three most common programmatic activities included public presentations, public education, and counseling. Programs provided services to females more then males, adolescents and young adults more than other age groups, and victims more than perpetrators. By far the biggest barrier was funding, and the biggest needs concerned program evaluation, data collection and analyses methods, and knowledge about behavioral change theory. Implications for violent crime prevention and intervention policy and programs are discussed.