The role of other-affirmation and connectedness in reducing defensive processing

Abstract

Completing a values based self-affirmation before viewing a high fear anti-alcohol message can reduce defensive processing and increase the effectiveness of the message. This is thought to be because self-affirmation enhances self-integrity. Emerging research has also found that other-affirmation (in which participants affirm that their own personally important values are also important to others) might reduce defensive processing more effectively than self-affirmation. To examine the effectiveness of other-affirmation, a randomised control trial was conducted in which participants were required to complete a control, self-affirmation or other-affirmation intervention before being exposed to a high fear anti-alcohol message. The participants’ then completed self-report measures of their intention to reduce alcohol consumption, message evaluation and risk perceptions. There were two samples; an undergraduate student sample (n=48) and a snowball sample (n=153). No significant differences were found, in either sample between the control, self-affirmation and other-affirmation conditions. These findings suggest that self-affirmation and other-affirmation may not reduce defensive processing in response to high fear messaging. Future research should seek to clarify the effectiveness of affirmations in non-laboratory settings and examine whether affirmations are less effective when viewed before an anti-alcohol message when compared to smoking related messages.