Processing and Acceptance of Threatening Health Information: The impact of self-affirmation under different levels of self-threat

Vorderer, P.A. [Promotor]Das, E.H.H.J. [Copromotor

Predictors of social media self-control failure: Immediate gratifications, habitual checking, ubiquity and notifications

Social media users often experience the difficulty of controlling their social media use while having important tasks to do. Recent theorizing on self-control and media use proposes four possible factors (immediate gratifications, habitual checking, ubiquity, and notifications) that might cause social media self-control failure (SMSCF). We tested whether these factors indeed predict SMSCF among 590 daily social media users. Results showed that, when people checked social media habitually, or strongly experienced the online ubiquity of social media, or perceived strong disturbances from social media notifications, they were more likely to fail to control their social media use. However, social media-related immediate gratifications did not predict SMSCF. This study empirically identified social media-related factors that might induce social media users' self-control difficulty

Don't derogate this message! Self-affirmation promotes online type 2 diabetes risk test taking

The aim of the present study was to examine whether self-affirmation promotes acceptance of threatening type 2 diabetes information and risk-testing behaviour. In an experimental study (N = 84), we manipulated self-affirmation by allowing participants to affirm a value that was either personally important or unimportant to them, and measured participants' risk level prior to reading threatening type 2 diabetes information. As dependent variables, we measured message derogation, intentions to do an online type 2 diabetes risk test and online risk-testing behaviour. Findings showed that self-affirmation decreased message derogation, increased intentions to do an online risk test and promoted online risk test taking among at-risk participants. Among participants not at-risk, self-affirmation decreased intentions and online risk test taking. Therefore, it is concluded, that for an at-risk population self-affirmation can decrease defensive responses to threatening health information and promote (online) risk test taking for diseases. © 2009 Taylor & Francis