Effects of responsibility attribution and message source on young adults' health attitudes and behaviors
Greg Boiarsky1, Donna Rouner, Marilee Long
1Boiarsky Consulting, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Abstract:
This study investigated the effect of message attributes on responses to health messages. The authors examined 3 variables--responsibility attribution (individual vs. social), source (personal blog vs. online magazine), and illness (stigmatized vs. nonstigmatized)--for effects on young adults' health-related attitudes and behaviors. Responsibility attributions influenced attitudes about individual responsibility for health but did not alter participants' behavioral intentions. Further, individuals exposed to a story from a health magazine exhibited stronger intentions to communicate about health than individuals exposed to a personal health blog. Although women's attitudes regarding social responsibility for health did not differ by illness type or responsibility attribution, men's attitudes did.
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