Investigators at Northwestern University Describe Findings in Risk Management (Are Some Narratives Better Than Others?: the Impact of Different Narrative Forms On Adolescents’ Intentions To Text and Drive): Risk Management

2022 FEB 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Risk Management are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Evanston, Illinois, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Psychological reactance theory posits individuals seek to restore freedom when threatened. Communication scholars have hypothesized persuasive messages can constitute threats to freedom.”

Financial support for this research came from National Institute of Biomedical Imagine and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Northwestern University, “The current study engages questions about the potential for different forms of narratives in public service announcements (PSAs) to trigger freedom threats by examining responses to a PSA campaign that utilized three forms of narrative (celebrity testimonials, peer testimonials, and accident stories) to decrease adolescent texting and driving intentions. Participants (N = 214) watched anti-texting and driving narratives, and completed measures of threat to freedom, anger, negative cognition, and attitudes/intentions toward texting/driving. Compared to celebrity/peer testimonial PSAs, accident stories triggered increased anger and, indirectly, decreased intentions to drive safely.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The results also suggest the need for continued examination of the best way to model psychological reactance theory, and the value of further research explicating anger as a mechanism of message effects.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Are Some Narratives Better Than Others?: the Impact of Different Narrative Forms On Adolescents’ Intentions To Text and Drive. Risk Analysis, 2022. Risk Analysis can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Risk Analysis - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Courtney L. Scherr, Northwestern University, Dept. of Communication Studies, Evanston, IL, United States. Additional authors for this research include Helen Lillie, Jakob D. Jensen, Chelsea L. Ratcliff, Melinda Krakow and Miao Liu.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13878. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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