Kang Yoona, O'Donnell Matthew Brook, Strecher Victor J, Falk Emily B
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut street Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.
Mindfulness (N Y). 2017 Apr;8(2):387-397. doi: 10.1007/s12671-016-0608-7. Epub 2016 Sep 13.
Feelings can shape how people respond to persuasive messages. In health communication, adaptive affective responses to potentially threating messages constitute one key to intervention success. The current study tested dispositional mindfulness, characterized by awareness of the present moment, as a predictor of adaptive affective responses to potentially threatening health messages and desirable subsequent health outcomes. Both general and discrete negative affective states (i.e., shame) were examined in relation to mindfulness and intervention success. Individuals (n=67) who reported less than 195 weekly minutes of exercise were recruited. At baseline, participants' dispositional mindfulness and exercise outcomes were assessed, including self-reported exercise motivation and physical activity. A week later, all participants were presented with potentially threatening and self-relevant health messages encouraging physical activity and discouraging sedentary lifestyle, and their subsequent affective response and exercise motivation were assessed. Approximately one month later, changes in exercise motivation and physical activity were assessed again. In addition, participants' level of daily physical activity was monitored by a wrist worn accelerometer throughout the entire duration of the study. Higher dispositional mindfulness predicted greater increases in exercise motivation one month after the intervention. Importantly, this effect was fully mediated by lower negative affect and shame specifically, in response to potentially threatening health messages among highly mindful individuals. Baseline mindfulness was also associated with increased self-reported vigorous activity, but not with daily physical activity as assessed by accelerometers. These findings suggest potential benefits of considering mindfulness as an active individual difference variable in theories of affective processing and health communication.
情感能够塑造人们对说服性信息的反应方式。在健康传播中，对潜在威胁性信息的适应性情感反应是干预成功的关键之一。本研究测试了以当下意识为特征的特质正念，作为对潜在威胁性健康信息的适应性情感反应及理想的后续健康结果的预测指标。研究考察了一般和离散的负面情感状态（即羞耻感）与正念及干预成功之间的关系。招募了每周锻炼时间少于195分钟的个体（n = 67）。在基线时，评估参与者的特质正念和锻炼结果，包括自我报告的锻炼动机和身体活动。一周后，向所有参与者呈现潜在威胁性且与自身相关的健康信息，鼓励身体活动并劝阻久坐的生活方式，并评估他们随后的情感反应和锻炼动机。大约一个月后，再次评估锻炼动机和身体活动的变化。此外，在整个研究期间，通过佩戴在手腕上的加速度计监测参与者的日常身体活动水平。较高的特质正念预示着干预后一个月锻炼动机有更大的提升。重要的是，这种效应完全由较低的负面情感尤其是羞耻感介导，具体而言，是在高度正念的个体对潜在威胁性健康信息的反应中。基线正念也与自我报告的剧烈活动增加有关，但与加速度计评估的日常身体活动无关。这些发现表明，在情感加工和健康传播理论中，将正念视为一个活跃的个体差异变量可能具有潜在益处。
