ABSTRACT Much research on public communication campaigns has shown that the negative appeals (e.g. fear, guilt appeals) commonly used may not be effective for encouraging prosocial behaviors, as they can facilitate defensive processing. Self-affirmation theory suggests that self-affirmation may be a useful strategy for mitigating defensive responses to potentially self-threatening messages. This cross-national study explored the effect of self-affirmation on the persuasiveness of a threat appeal message in the context of climate change. An experiment with a 3 (no affirmation versus message-integrated affirmation versus message-separate affirmation) × 2 (high self-threatening versus low self-threatening message) × 2 (U.S. versus Korea) factorial design (N = 225, U.S.; N = 255, Korea) was employed to test this postulation. The results suggested that self-affirmation has a positive effect on perceived risk, attitude toward message, and intention to engage in environmentally-friendly behaviors, although this effect is limited to high self-threat conditions. Additionally, a statistically significant interaction between self-affirmation and culture was found for the effect on behavioral intention. Finally, message-integrated affirmation manipulation was found to be as effective as message-separate affirmation manipulation. The implications of these findings for public communication campaigns in terms of promoting prosocial behaviors are discussed.

中文翻译：

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自我肯定对信息说服力的影响：美国和韩国的跨文化研究

摘要 对公共传播活动的大量研究表明，常用的负面诉求（例如恐惧、内疚诉求）可能无法有效鼓励亲社会行为，因为它们可以促进防御性处理。自我肯定理论表明，自我肯定可能是减轻对潜在自我威胁信息的防御反应的有用策略。这项跨国研究探讨了在气候变化背景下自我肯定对威胁呼吁信息的说服力的影响。使用 3（无肯定与信息整合肯定与信息单独肯定）×2（高度自我威胁与低自我威胁信息）×2（美国与韩国）析因设计（N = 225，美国；N）的实验= 255，韩国）被用来测试这个假设。结果表明，自我肯定对感知风险、对信息的态度和从事环保行为的意愿有积极影响，尽管这种影响仅限于高自我威胁条件。此外，发现自我肯定和文化之间对行为意图的影响存在统计学上显着的相互作用。最后，发现消息集成的确认操作与消息单独的确认操作一样有效。讨论了这些发现对促进亲社会行为的公共传播活动的影响。发现自我肯定和文化之间对行为意图的影响存在统计学上显着的相互作用。最后，发现消息集成的确认操作与消息单独的确认操作一样有效。讨论了这些发现对促进亲社会行为的公共传播活动的影响。发现自我肯定和文化之间对行为意图的影响存在统计学上显着的相互作用。最后，发现消息集成的确认操作与消息单独的确认操作一样有效。讨论了这些发现对促进亲社会行为的公共传播活动的影响。