Northern Illinois University, USA.
University of Michigan, USA.
Public Underst Sci. 2022 Oct;31(7):921-939. doi: 10.1177/09636625221091490. Epub 2022 May 2.
The current study investigated how individuals process aggressive and humorous video messages communicating childhood vaccination and climate change. Employing psychological reactance, message discounting and expectancy violation, we built a theoretical model that explains the effects of communication styles on individuals' activism intentions. Two online experiments in the United States ( = 441 and = 533) using self-created videos on the topics of childhood vaccination and climate change were conducted to examine this model. The results showed that both perceived aggressiveness and humorousness of the videos led to higher message discounting, which then resulted in stronger activism intentions. Perceived aggressiveness led to higher expectancy violation, while perceived humorousness led to lower expectancy violation, which negatively affected activism intentions. The role played by psychological reactance was inconsistent across the two contexts. The findings provide theoretical implications for understanding how individuals process aggressive and humorous communication styles, especially in relation to discussions on science issues.
当前研究调查了个体如何处理传达儿童疫苗接种和气候变化的攻击性和幽默视频信息。本研究运用心理抗拒、信息折扣和期望违背理论，构建了一个理论模型，解释了沟通方式对个体积极行动意愿的影响。本研究在美国进行了两项在线实验（n1=441，n2=533），使用关于儿童疫苗接种和气候变化的自创视频来检验该模型。结果表明，视频的感知攻击性和幽默感均导致了更高的信息折扣，从而增强了积极行动的意愿。感知攻击性导致更高的期望违背，而感知幽默感导致更低的期望违背，这对积极行动的意愿产生了负面影响。心理抗拒在两种情境下所起的作用并不一致。本研究结果为理解个体如何处理攻击性和幽默沟通方式提供了理论意义，尤其是在涉及科学问题讨论时。
