Pliaukstaite, Liucija (2024) Lowering Defensiveness Toward a Persuasive Message Concerning Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol-related Identity as a Moderator. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of induced eye movements (EMi) in enhancing persuasion through the cognitive burden on working memory. Specifically, it examines how EMi influences negative emotions, intentions to reduce drinking behavior, and actual reductions in drinking. Drinker identity was explored as a moderator, with a hypothesis that individuals strongly identifying as drinkers will experience reduced defensiveness and therefore greater benefits from EMi. In this experimental design, volunteer participants were randomly allocated to one of the two conditions. The intervention involved a persuasive audio health message about the negative outcomes of alcohol consumption accompanied by a red square moving from side to side of their device to induce eye movements. Participants in the control condition only listened to the audio message. Results revealed an unexpected direction: those scoring low on identity measures exhibited larger increases in intention to reduce alcohol consumption, fear, and negative self-evaluation. EMi increased irritation in participants with high drinker identity scores, while it decreased irritation in those with low drinker identity scores. The findings suggest that participants may have disidentified from drinking while responding to the questionnaire. Openness seems to have played a role in prohibiting the expected effects in highly identified drinkers. Further research addressing measurement issues is recommended to better interpret these findings. Implementing EMi may be effective in cultures tied to drinking habits but less so for individuals open to seeking help. Keywords: induced eye movements or EMi, defensiveness, working memory approach of persuasion, alcohol consumption.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Dijkstra, A. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Aug 2024 07:01 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2024 07:01 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4222 |
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