ABSTRACT

Psychological reactance, routinely operationalized as a latent construct comprised of anger and negative cognitions, represents an aversive state following a threatened or eliminated freedom. The current study sought to extend the literature by comparing three distinct measures of negative cognitions: (a) trained coder (thought-listing), (b) participant coding (thought-listing), and (c) Likert scale. Participants (N = 540) were randomly assigned to view messages in a 2 (language: forceful and non-forceful) x 3 (topic: exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, and sleep) between subjects factorial design. Exposure to forceful (vs. non-forceful) language resulted in higher negative cognitions across all three measures. Moreover, all three measures of negative cognitions were negatively associated with behavioral intention. Three competing structural models were examined, each using a different measure of negative cognitions. Results demonstrated the three models performed similarly based on comparisons of model fit and variance explained. Despite similar performance among the three measures of negative cognitions, there was a slight, but consistent advantage for the Likert scale measure model in terms of fit, variance explained, and factor loadings. Validation of these three measures of negative cognitions provides communication researchers with the flexibility to choose the measure most appropriate for their needs.

抽象的

心理反应通常被当作由愤怒和消极认知组成的潜在构造来运作，它代表着受到威胁或消灭的自由之后的厌恶状态。当前的研究试图通过比较三种不同的否定认知度量来扩展文献：（a）受过训练的编码员（思想清单），（b）参与者编码（思想清单）和（c）李克特量表。参加人数= 540）被随机分配以在受试者析因设计之间以2（语言：强制和非强制）x 3（主题：运动，水果和蔬菜的消耗以及睡眠）的形式查看消息。暴露于强制性（相对于非强制性）语言会导致在所有这三种量度中的较高的负面认知。此外，消极认知的所有三种量度均与行为意愿呈负相关。研究了三个竞争的结构模型，每个模型使用否定认知的不同量度。结果表明，根据对模型拟合度和方差的比较，三个模型的执行情况相似。尽管三种否定认知量度的表现相似，但李克特量表量度模型在拟合度，解释的方差和因素负荷方面仍具有轻微但始终如一的优势。