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Nudging Resisters Toward Change: Self-Persuasion Interventions for Reducing Attitude Certainty
Spencer Greenberg1, Danielle Brand2, Aislinn Pluta3
11 ClearerThinking.org, New York, NY, USA.
American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP
|June 29, 2017
Summary
Self-persuasion interventions effectively reduce attitude certainty, prompting patients to explore reasons for unhealthy attitudes. This approach can help break resistance in clinical settings and health applications.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Patient resistance to health advice is a significant barrier in clinical practice.
- Effective interventions are needed to facilitate attitude change and promote healthier behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify self-persuasion protocols for reducing patient resistance.
- To adapt these protocols for clinical sessions and health applications.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled experiment with 617 participants on the GuidedTrack platform.
- Two self-persuasion interventions tested against two control groups.
- Measurement of attitude certainty changes and attitude-related thought (ART).
Main Results:
- Self-persuasion interventions significantly decreased attitude certainty compared to controls.
- Intervention 1 showed a significant decrease in attitude certainty and a correlation with ART.
- The number of participants decreasing attitude certainty was significantly higher in experimental groups.
Conclusions:
- Self-persuasion techniques can be valuable for increasing doubt about unhealthy attitudes.
- These methods offer potential for clinical practitioners and health application designers to overcome patient resistance.
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