Notes on Dispositional Motivations and Message Framing | PSY 101, Papers of Psychology

Download Notes on Dispositional Motivations and Message Framing | PSY 101 and more Papers Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Congruency Hypothesis 2 Dispositional Motivations and Message Framing: A Test of the Congruency Hypothesis in College Students Introduction According to Traci Mann, co-author of Dispositional Motivations and Message Framing: A Test of the Congruency Hypothesis in College Students, “providing people with persuasive health messages is often the first step in efforts to promote healthy behavior” (Mann, Sherman, and Updegraff, 2004, p. 330). She also continues to state that when people are speaking of health, there are two ways this information can be processed: a gain frame or a loss frame. A gain frame is where the patient engages in the benefits of the behavior, where in a loss frame the patient fails to engage in the benefits of the behavior (Mann, 2004). During the article, Mann also presents the idea of approach and avoidance systems; an approach system controls appetitive motivation, a strong urge to do something, while an avoidance system is said to have aversive motivation, or feeling as if a punishment will be present (Mann, 2004). The term behavioral activation system, BAS, is used for an approach system individual and BIS, or behavioral inhibition system, is used for avoidance system individuals. From prior research, Mann and company discovered that individuals reacted differently to different cues. If the cue was positive, individuals with more of an approach motivation reacted, and if it was a negative cue, those who were said to be avoidance motivated reacted (Mann, 2004). They also discovered that depending on whether a participant is approach/avoidance motivated can have an affect on their goal selection. Research showed that individuals that wished to achieve more tended to be more approach motivated, such as learning as much as possible in classes, and those who failed failure were more likely to be avoidance orientated, such as avoiding performing poorly Congruency Hypothesis 3 (Elliot & Sheldon, 1977). These past findings suggest that a gain-famed message will be more effective with an individual who is approach motivated and a loss-framed message will impact someone who is avoidance orientated. With all of this prior knowledge, Mann and company hypothesized: …When a message is framed in terms of losses, avoidance-oriented individuals will floss more than approach oriented individuals, and when a message is framed in terms of gains, approach-oriented individuals will floss more than avoidance- oriented individuals. (331). Methods In order to prove this study, Mann, Sherman, and Updegraff, needed to find participants. In this particular study, there were 70 students from a research methods class that received extra credit for participating. It is also to note that seven of these 70 did not receive a follow-up data, and thus were omitted from the study. After the researchers had chosen their participants, the experiment began. They were admitted into a large room where they were introduced to the first independent variable: the completion of the BIS/BAS measure. They were next given either a gain-framed or loss-framed article, at random, and asked to read it. The article that they were asked to read was the second independent variable. After completion of the article, the researchers gave each participant seven, individually wrapped single-use flosses to take home with them. According to Mann “the participants were asked to use the flosses the next seven times the flossed” (332). However, what Mann and company left out was that upon returning to the study, the participants would be asked how many of the flosses they actual had used. In class, one week after the first session, the participants were asked to complete a short