Dispositional and comparative optimism interact to predict avoidance of a looming health threat

Research indicates that when confronted with a health threat, individuals high in both dispositional and comparative optimism employ a more avoidant style of coping than individuals high in dispositional but low in comparative optimism. We examined the hypothesis that threat distance moderates this interactive optimism association. In two studies, participants were randomly assigned to a looming or distant threat condition. Study 1 revealed that in the looming threat condition, participants high in both forms of optimism were more likely to minimise the threat and less inclined to seek additional health information relative to participants high in dispositional but low in comparative optimism. In Study 2, the same interaction pattern emerged on a measure of psychological abstraction suggesting these variables combine to alter broad information processing strategies. Implications for considering multiple forms of optimism when delivering health status information are discussed.     

A quasi-experimental investigation of message appeal variations on organ donor registration rates.

OBJECTIVE: Approximately 6,000 Americans die every year awaiting an organ transplant. Health promotion interventions may alleviate the shortage of viable organs by increasing the number of registered organ donors. This study is the first to evaluate the differential effectiveness of various organ donor messages in naturalistic settings. DESIGN: A 4 (Appeal)x4 (Exemplar)x4 (Location) counterbalanced quasi-experimental design was implemented. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The behavioral outcome measure was the number of individuals who registered to be organ donors at computer kiosks. RESULTS: A number of significant main effects and interactions emerged. Most notably, of the 4 different appeals (counterargument, emotional, motivating action, dissonance), counterargument was by far the most efficacious, especially in academic-type settings (library, university, community college); the emotional appeal was most successful in hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study have implications for both organ donor investigations and health campaign research in general. Statistical interactions highlight the importance of evaluating multiple exemplars in multiple locations for each type of appeal when conducting health campaign research.