Effects of public education about breast cancer and breast self-examination.

In a field experiment severity of and susceptibility to breast cancer were varied in four different persuasive messages about breast cancer and breast self-examination (BSE). The purpose of this study was to find out whether such health messages in a real-life setting had an effect on knowledge about symptoms, attitudes and behavior relating to BSE. The second goal of this study was to investigate whether fear, aroused by these persuasive communications, had a significant role in influencing the recommended behavior (BSE). In spite of a successful manipulation of seriousness and susceptibility no differences for the dependent variables could be established between the experimental groups after one month. However, differences were found by comparing the experimental groups with the no health message group. After reading the pamphlet (no matter which of the four) women showed greater intention to perform BSE regularly. This could be attributed to a higher estimation of the chance of recovery through early detection of lumps (efficacy) after reading the pamphlet. The health messages also appeared to have a positive influence on compliance with recommended behavior: women examined their breasts more in the prescribed way. An inhibiting effect of fear on behavior (which is sometimes theoretically suggested) was not found. The effects of the pamphlet that were established are formed in a more informational, cognitive way.