Impact of brief self-affirmation manipulations on university students' reactions to risk information about binge drinking

Abstract

Objectives: Binge drinking is associated with an array of negative health consequences and is particularly prevalent in university students. Health-risk messages about alcohol may fail to change such behaviour because they are dismissed or derogated. The present study sought to compare the effect of three brief self-affirmation manipulations on message processing, message acceptance, and subsequent alcohol-related behaviour in university students.

Design: Participants (N = 307) were randomly allocated to condition (kindness questionnaire, values essay, attributes questionnaire, control questionnaire) before reading a health-risk message about binge drinking.

Methods: After reading the message, participants completed measures of message processing (message reactance, message evaluation, counter-arguing) and message acceptance (perceived risk, intention, plans) as well as a manipulation check. Alcohol consumption was assessed 1 week later.

Results: Participants in all three self-affirmation conditions scored significantly higher than participants in the control condition on the manipulation check measure. All other self-affirmation effects were non-significant.

Conclusions: While the three self-affirmation manipulations were found to be self-affirming, they failed to impact on measures of message processing, message acceptance, or subsequent behaviour. The findings concur with previous research that questions the use of self-affirmation to reduce alcohol consumption in university students. Current self-affirmation manipulations may not be strong enough to overcome defensive processing of health-risk messages about alcohol in students and/or prime social goals that are related to the domain under threat (i.e., alcohol consumption), thereby nullifying any positive self-affirmation effects. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Health-risk messages to reduce alcohol consumption (e.g., binge drinking) in university students may fail due to defensive processing (e.g., message derogation). Self-affirmation has been proposed as a technique to bolster one's self-integrity and promote open-minded processing of health-risk messages. Most previous studies that have presented health-risk messages about alcohol to university students have used a values essay to self-affirm participants with equivocal results. What does this study add? There are few studies that have directly compared different self-affirmation manipulations. All three self-affirmation manipulations were found by participants to be self-affirming, consistent with the idea that there are multiple ways individuals can self-affirm, but had no significant effects on message processing, message acceptance, or behaviour. Self-affirmation manipulations may lead individuals to reflect on interpersonal values that are related to alcohol consumption in students and may therefore prime the very cognitions and behaviour that they seek to reduce.

Keywords: alcohol; college; intervention; self-affirmation.