This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Weinstein, N. D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Weinstein, N. D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Reactions to Life-Style Warnings: Coffee and Cancer

Departments of Human Ecology and Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

A well-publicized report linking coffee to cancer of the pancreas provided an opportunity to examine how people react to life-style warnings. According to the concepts of cognitive dis sonance and defensive avoidance, coffee drinkers might be expected to avoid this report or dispute its validity. Within the sample of 89 secretarial and clerical workers, coffee drinkers were found to be somewhat more likely than nondrinkers to be aware of and to recall the contents of the report. The more they drank, the more likely they were to have changed their coffee consumption in response to the new information. Coffee drinking had no effect on interest in receiving a copy of the original report nor were coffee drinkers more likely than nondrinkers to doubt the future confirmation of the reported coffee-cancer link. It was suggested that life- style warnings, particularly warnings about risks that are newly recognized, do not produce strong avoidance motivations. Several reasons for this lack of avoidance are discussed.

Health Education & Behavior, Vol. 12, No. 2, 129-134 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/109019818501200201


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?