April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: Comparing the Effects of Narratives and Non-narratives on Skin Cancer Risk Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions
For many, the idea that one may develop cancer is but a remote possibility – something to maybe worry about in the very distant future. Indeed, individuals tend to have an optimistic outlook on their perceived likelihood of developing cancer, reporting that they perceive themselves to be at less risk of developing cancer than others in their age group (Wong, 2009). Decreased cancer risk perception has been linked to lower adherence to screening recommendations and decreased intentions to take preventative measures (Kim et al., 2008; Wong, 2009; Atkinson et al., 2015). This poses a challenge to health communicators attempting to persuade individuals to take steps toward detecting and preventing cancer. Construal level theory of psychological distance (CLT) may shed light on individuals’ inaction related to cancer prevention and detection behaviors, as individuals struggle to grasp, and thus take action against, distant threats. Guided by CLT and narrative theory, the present study tests narratives as a potential tool for reducing individuals’ psychological distance to skin cancer and influencing their risk perceptions and behavioral intentions related to detection and prevention. This study compared cancer news articles featuring personal narratives to informative (i.e., non-narrative) cancer news articles and had a final sample of 877 U.S. adults (M=48.54, SD=18.36). No significant differences were observed in terms of psychological distance and risk perceptions. Participants in the narrative conditions, however, had higher behavioral intentions than participants in the non-narrative conditions. There was also a significant difference between the narrative and non-narrative groups in terms of perceived severity, in that participants in the non-narrative conditions perceived skin cancer to be more severe than those in the narrative conditions. These results shed light on the efficacy of narratives in general as a strategy for motivating behavioral change, while also illuminating the struggle that audiences may have in perceiving themselves to be at risk for cancer. The findings of this study have both practical and theoretical implications, while also being among the very few to examine narratives using CLT.