Citation

Lee MJ, Bichard SL. Health Commun. 2006; 20(3): 299-308.

Affiliation

Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/s15327027hc2003_9

PMID

17137421

Abstract

This study examined the responses of college students who were exposed to different types of episodic stories related to drinking (gender-consistent vs. gender-inconsistent condition) and their intention to modify risky behavior (binge drinking) based on their rebellious risk-taking tendency. Self-report measures such as intention to modify drinking behavior and reaction to the message were measured. Eighty-two college students between the ages of 19 and 23 years participated in a posttest-only group design experiment. Results suggested that rebellious participants were less afraid of the dangers of binge drinking than those who were low in rebelliousness for the gender-consistent condition. Regardless of the level of rebelliousness, the participants who were in the gender-consistent (increased relevance) condition produced higher recognition scores than those who were in the gender-inconsistent condition. However, the rebellious participants who were in the gender-inconsistent condition exhibited a higher level of intention to change their drinking behavior than did those in the gender-consistent condition.

Language: en