Effects of Media Framing of Obesity Among Adolescents

Abstract

This article examined the effects of media framing of obesity on adolescents' causal attributions, causal beliefs, and evaluations of health messages. The goal was to understand what types of messages are most effective in communicating the risks of obesity, leading to changes in beliefs and attitudes. To do so, an experiment was conducted with a 2 × 2 between-subject factorial design, with the factors being frames (episodic vs. thematic) and valences (positive vs. negative). The dependent variables were message attitude, causal attribution, and individual and societal causal beliefs. Results indicated that those exposed to the episodic frame, compared to the thematic frame, were more likely to attribute the cause of obesity to individuals and evaluate the messages more positively. Message valence, however, had limited impact. These results have both theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords:

• Causal Attribution
• Message Framing
• Obesity

Notes

*p < .05. **p < .10.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fuyuan Shen

Fuyuan Shen (PhD, University of North Carolina, 1997) is an Associate Professor in the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University.

Sang Yeal Lee

Sang Yeal Lee (PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 2004) is an Associate Professor in the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University.

Carrie Sipes

Carrie Sipes (PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 2010) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Shippensburg State University.

Fan Hu

Fan Hu is a doctoral candidate in the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University.