Applying Perspective Taking and Social Influence to Exercise Narratives (2014)

Undergraduate: Matthew Little

Faculty Advisor: Melanie Green
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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The present study examines various factors and theories related to the entertainment-education strategy in addition to revisiting Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior in a narrative context. Entertainment education is a health communication strategy that involves educating and persuading individuals regarding health issues by incorporating health information with a story. In addition, when readers identify with a character in a narrative, they are more likely to adopt the character's attitude, beliefs, and goals. The present study employs Batson et al.'s (1997) work on perspective taking. This study utilizes a 2x2 factorial design, as the first manipulation is whether the participant is instructed to remain objective or imagine how the character feels. It is predicted that participants identifying with the character will report higher intentions to exercise. In addition, Courneya et al. (2000) found that social support was a stronger predictor of intentions than subjective norm in the exercise context. The second manipulation is whether a participant reads a narrative about a student who receives social support to exercise, or a student who receives social pressure to exercise. It is predicted that participants reading the social support narrative will report less perceived pressure, higher social support, and higher intentions to exercise. Data are currently being analyzed and will be reported in the final poster, along with implications of results.