Cognitive avoidance in the strategic processing of ego threats among eating-disordered patients

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Meyer ◽  
Lucy Serpell ◽  
Glenn Waller ◽  
Fay Murphy ◽  
Janet Treasure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Strategic Processing ◽  
Eating Disordered ◽  
Ego Threats

Interactive Effect of Dispositional Cognitive Avoidance, Magnitude of Threat, and Response Efficacy on the Persuasive Impact of Threat Communications

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Nestler ◽  
Boris Egloff
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Response Efficacy ◽  
Internet Study ◽  
High Threat

This internet study investigated the effect of individual differences in cognitive avoidance on the persuasive impact of threat communications. A total of 289 participants completed a measure of dispositional cognitive avoidance and read either a high- or a low-threat communication that provided either an effective response to reduce the threat or not. We found that cognitive avoidance did not moderate the effect of magnitude of threat when response efficacy was low. By contrast, cognitive avoidance was relevant when efficacy was high: After a high-threat message, low cognitive avoiders reported more favorable attitudes toward and intentions to adopt the action recommendation than high cognitive avoiders. Further analyses showed that severity perceptions mediate this effect of avoidance on attitudes and intentions. Individual differences in cognitive avoidance are thus an important moderator of the effectiveness of threat communications.

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