The Effects of Message Framing and Emotional Context on Health Behavior
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom C/D
Start Date
16-5-2013
End Date
16-5-2013
Abstract
The current research was designed to examine if motivation to engage in exercise can change in response to differing emotional context and message framing of the behavior. In particular, self-reported motivation and desire to exercise were measured after an anger, fear, or neutral emotion-inducing task was followed by a short, realistic narrative on health behavior that was framed as either an opportunity to gain something or lose something. In the current study, participants were undergraduate psychology students at Central Washington University. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions: 1) completing an anger-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 2) completing a fear-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 3) completing a control-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 4) completing an anger-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative; 5) completing a fear-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative; and 6) completing a control-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative. Based upon previous research on intentions to eat healthy food, it was hypothesized that, overall, participants exposed to an anger-induction task would be more motivated to exercise than those participants exposed to the fear or control task. It was also hypothesized that the combination of an anger-induction task with a gain-frame narrative would result in the greatest increase in motivation to exercise. The results of this study should have implications for developing effective motivational plans to increase exercise and health behaviors.
Recommended Citation
Osterdahl, Stephanie and McLaughlin, Trese, "The Effects of Message Framing and Emotional Context on Health Behavior" (2013). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 127.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2013/posters/127
Poster Number
49
Additional Mentoring Department
Psychology
The Effects of Message Framing and Emotional Context on Health Behavior
SURC Ballroom C/D
The current research was designed to examine if motivation to engage in exercise can change in response to differing emotional context and message framing of the behavior. In particular, self-reported motivation and desire to exercise were measured after an anger, fear, or neutral emotion-inducing task was followed by a short, realistic narrative on health behavior that was framed as either an opportunity to gain something or lose something. In the current study, participants were undergraduate psychology students at Central Washington University. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions: 1) completing an anger-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 2) completing a fear-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 3) completing a control-writing task and reading a gain-frame narrative; 4) completing an anger-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative; 5) completing a fear-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative; and 6) completing a control-writing task and reading a loss-frame narrative. Based upon previous research on intentions to eat healthy food, it was hypothesized that, overall, participants exposed to an anger-induction task would be more motivated to exercise than those participants exposed to the fear or control task. It was also hypothesized that the combination of an anger-induction task with a gain-frame narrative would result in the greatest increase in motivation to exercise. The results of this study should have implications for developing effective motivational plans to increase exercise and health behaviors.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Kara Gabriel