Messages that frame a target behavior in terms of
its benefits (gain frame) or costs (loss frame) have been widely and
successfully used for health promotion and risk reduction. However, the impact
of framed messages on decisions to have sex and sexual risk, as well as
moderators of these effects, has remained largely unexplored.
We used a
computerized laboratory task to test the effects of framed messages about
condom use on young adults' sexual decision making. Participants
(N = 127) listened to both gain- and loss-framed messages and rated
their intentions to have sex with partners who posed a high and low risk for
sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The effects of message frame, partner
risk, participant gender, ability to adopt the messages, and message
presentation order on intentions to have sex were examined.
Intentions to have
sex with high-risk partners significantly decreased after the loss-framed
message, but not after the gain-framed message, and intentions to have sex
increased for participants who received the gain-framed message first. Yet,
participants found it easier to adopt the gain-framed message.
Results suggest
that loss-framed messages may be particularly effective in reducing intentions
to have sex with partners who might pose a higher risk for STIs, and that
message presentation order may alter the relative effectiveness of gain- and
loss-framed messages on sexual decision making.
Future studies should examine
the precise conditions under which gain- and loss-framed messages can promote
healthy sexual behaviors and reduce sexual risk behaviors.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/GIxLyf
By: Macapagal K1,2, Janssen E3,4, Matson M5, Finn PR6, Heiman JR3,6.
1Department
of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine, 625 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
kathryn.macapagal@northwestern.edu.
2The Kinsey
Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN, USA. kathryn.macapagal@northwestern.edu.
3The Kinsey
Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN, USA.
4Institute
for Family and Sexuality Studies, Department of Neurosciences, University of
Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
5Richard M.
Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
6Department
of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
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