Effects of self-affirmation on university students’ processing of health risk messages related to sedentary behavior

Abstract

Objective

Examine effects of self-affirmation on university students’ processing of health risk messages related to sedentary behavior.

Participants

Eighty-eight students from a Canadian university (females = 53; males = 35; M_age = 21.74, SD = 5.36) participated during the 2018–2019 academic year.

Methods

Participants were randomized to a self-affirmation (n = 43) or control group (n = 45), watched a video conveying sedentary behavior risk messages, and completed measures of acceptance, derogation, risk perceptions, negative affect, and intentions. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) examined effects of condition on the combined set of outcome variables.

Results

Self-affirmation had no observable effect on any outcome variables.

Conclusion

Self-affirmation did not appear to impact students’ reactions to sedentary behavior risk messages. Given the lack of a manipulation check, however, this finding must be interpreted with caution. The Trigger and Channel framework offers a useful account of factors that influence self-affirmation effects. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords:

• Acceptance
• derogation
• risk perceptions
• negative affect
• intentions

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all university students who participated in this study.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of Canada and received approval from the University of Manitoba’s Education/Nursing Research Ethics Board.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.