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Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
Published on: October 19, 2014
Temporal frames, temporal focus, and behavioral expectations: The persuasive impact of near and distant threats
Manusheela Pokharel1, Jakob D Jensen2, Sophia Taylor-Burton1
1Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA.
Background:
Ultraviolet (UV) photography and photoaging visuals make hidden sun damage visible to the naked eye, granting the potential to create messages that vary in temporal dimensionality. As UV photos depict immediate skin damage, the photo communicated that exposure in sun causes invisible damage to the young truck driver (near temporal frame) and visible damage (e.g., wrinkles) to the old truck driver (distant temporal frame).
Objective:
The current study examines the moderating effects of loss/gain frames and temporality variables on the relationship between temporal framing and sun safe behavioral expectations.
Method:
U.S. adults (N = 897) were assigned to a 2 (near/distant temporal frame) × 2 (gain/loss frame) between-participants experiment.
Results:
The loss frame triggered greater fear compared to the gain frame, this fear forms an indirect path where loss frames increase fear and fear increases changes in sun safe behavioral expectations. Participants exposed to the distant frame had increased behavior expectations if either of the two temporality variables (CFC - future or current focus) were low. Participants with low temporality indicators (i.e., CFC - future, current focus, or future focus) exposed to the gain frame had increased behavior expectations.
Conclusions:
The findings demonstrate the potential utility of temporal frames as a tool for designing strategic health messages.
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