Confirmation and Weight Management: Predicting Effective Levels of Acceptance and Challenge in Weight Management Messages

Abstract

The current study employed a confirmation perspective to assess individuals’ perceptions of weight management messages. Confirmation was conceptualized as being comprised of two components: acceptance and challenge. Building on the main theoretical premise that messages higher in acceptance and challenge would be perceived as more effective in promoting healthy behaviors than messages lower in these components, we assessed how the relationships between the two components and message effectiveness varied by individuals’ characteristics. Specifically, we examined body self-esteem, readiness to change, weight locus of control, motivations for weight management, and communication satisfaction with weight management conversations as potential moderators. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, messages higher in acceptance and messages higher in challenge were perceived as more effective. In addition, body self-esteem, certain stages of readiness to change, and communication satisfaction interacted with acceptance to predict effectiveness, and internal locus of control and appearance and strength motives interacted with challenge to predict effectiveness. These results, in combination, suggest that although messages high in either component of confirmation were perceived as generally effective in motivating healthy behaviors, optimal levels of acceptance and challenge may vary by certain individual and relational characteristics. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• Confirmation
• Weight Management
• Acceptance
• Challenge
• Message Effectiveness

Acknowledgements

A version of this paper was presented at the 2010 National Communication Association, San Francisco, CA

Notes

1. We assessed the scenario's realism through three items: “The scenario was similar to experiences I've had in my life,” “I could relate to this scenario,” and “It was hard for me to imagine myself in this scenario” (last item was reverse scored; α=.84). The items showed participants felt the scenario was relatively realistic and relatable (M=4.83, SD=1.46). Frequency of communication was assessed through one item—“In the past 30 days, how often did you talk with this person about weight management (WM) including diet, nutrition, exercise, etc.?” This item was measured on a seven-point scale from “we rarely talked about WM issues” to “we talked every day about WM issues” (M=4.19, SD=1.43). Relational closeness was measured using Vangelisti and Caughlin's (1997) seven-item scale (e.g., “How important is your relationship with this person?”, and “How much do you enjoy spending time with this person?”; α=.92). Items were measured on a scale from “not at all” to “very” (M=6.19, SD=0.93). Lastly, the influence of the significant other was measured through three items which asked “How influential is this person regarding your diet/how much you exercise/how you feel about your body/size?” (M=4.59, SD=1.55; M=4.57, SD=1.57; M=5.18, SD=1.51, respectively). These items were measured on a seven-point scale from “not at all influential” to “very influential.”

2. We also assessed whether the analyzed relationships varied by relationship type. We selected out the most prevalent significant others: partners (n=119), friends (n=81), and parents (n=86), created two dummy variables with romantic partner as the reference category, and reconducted the regressions including all the two-way interactions and the three-way interaction between message, the moderator, and significant other. Although a few two-way interactions emerged, the three-way interactions were the main focus in these analyses. No three-way interactions were significant for the challenge messages, ▵Fs < 1.33, ps>.260, but three three-way interactions emerged for the acceptance messages: the action stage of change, ▵F=2.38, p=.052, ▵R ²=.03; maintenance stage of change, ▵F=2.46, p=.046, ▵R ²=.03; and external locus of control, ▵F=2.05, p=.088, ▵R ²=.02. Similar patterns emerged for all three. The nature of the interactions for the three relationship types suggested that the differences were more pronounced for the high acceptance messages: whereas the moderators were positively related to effectiveness for both partners (action, b=.15; maintenance, b=.17; ELOC, b=.27) and parents (action, b=.38; maintenance, b=.29; ELOC, b=.13), they were negatively related for friends (action, b=−.30; maintenance, b=−.80; ELOC, b=−.20). Hence, the more participants were already making changes in their weight management habits or had more external locus of control, greater acceptance was less effective from friends but more effective from partners and parents.

3. In the main study, analyses revealed that the varying acceptance messages did vary in challenge, F(2, 299) = 42.33, p<.001; more accepting messages were also seen as more challenging. Similarly, for the varying challenge messages, acceptance increased as challenge increased, F(2, 299) = 16.56, p<.001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

René M. Dailey

René M. Dailey (PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara) is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin where Lynsey Kluever Romo (MA, American University) is a PhD student

Andrea A. McCracken

Andrea A. McCracken (PhD, University of Texas at Austin) is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Department at Dixie State College