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Message Derogation and Self‐Distancing Denial: Situational and Dispositional Influences on the Use of Denial to Protect Against a Threatening Message 1
Author(s) -
THOMPSON SUZANNE C.,
ROBBINS TERESA,
PAYNE REBECCA,
CASTILLO CHRISTINA
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00855.x
Subject(s) - denial , derogation , psychology , distancing , social psychology , situational ethics , action (physics) , disease , covid-19 , medicine , psychotherapist , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Five types of denial to protect against the implications of a personal health threat message (cardiovascular disease or CVD) were examined. Undergraduates ( N = 150) were randomly assigned to levels of threat and difficulty, read the message, and completed measures of objective risk for CVD, optimistic denial threat orientation, measures of 1 type of message‐oriented denial (message derogation) and 4 types of self‐oriented denial, and intentions to engage in protective action. High threat and difficulty both provoked message derogation, but low threat led to more self‐oriented denial. Individual differences were evident: Those higher in optimistic denial used more self‐oriented denial and had lower intention to engage in protective actions. Self‐oriented denial mediated the relationship between optimistic denial and behavioral intentions.