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People tend to believe that they are less vulnerable to negative outcomes or events than others. This is known as the self-positivity bias, a specific type of attributional bias in social psychology. Health psychologists suggest that the self-positivity bias may prevent people from being persuaded to take precautionary measures against certain health risks because behavior change is predicated on the perceived risk of contracting the disease in question. If a persuasive message cannot overcome the self-positivity bias, then behavior change is unlikely.In Study 1, researchers hypothesized that when told that an infectious disease can be contracted by engaging in likely or common behavior, people will experience less self-positivity bias than when told the disease can be contracted through unlikely or uncommon behavior. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to a likely/common group, an unlikely/uncommon group, and a control group. All participants read the same paragraph about the health consequences of viral meningitis and how it is contracted. For the likely/common group, the paragraph included, "Viral meningitis is caused by enteroviruses (common virus causing 'stomach flulike' symptoms) and can be contracted through close contact (touching, kissing) with an infected person." For the unlikely/uncommon group, the paragraph included, "Viral meningitis is caused by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and can be contracted through coming into contact with the blood, feces, urine, or saliva of an infected mouse." All participants were asked to estimate the likelihood of contracting the disease themselves and the likelihood for the average person (Table 1) .Table 1 Mean Estimated Probability of Contracting Viral Meningitis, by Group
In Study 2, 120 participants read a newspaper article about hepatitis C and were then randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, each receiving additional information about either two or eight relatively uncommon behaviors (eg, getting a tattoo, sharing a needle) or relatively common behaviors (eg, sharing a toothbrush, not bandaging a cut) that could spread the disease. Participants rated their concern for contracting hepatitis C on a scale of 1 (not at all concerned) to 7 (most concerned) (Table 2) .Table 2 Mean Concern of Contracting Hepatitis C Score, by Group and Condition

-The foot-in-the-door phenomenon predicts that:

Question

Passage
People tend to believe that they are less vulnerable to negative outcomes or events than others. This is known as the self-positivity bias, a specific type of attributional bias in social psychology. Health psychologists suggest that the self-positivity bias may prevent people from being persuaded to take precautionary measures against certain health risks because behavior change is predicated on the perceived risk of contracting the disease in question. If a persuasive message cannot overcome the self-positivity bias, then behavior change is unlikely.In Study 1, researchers hypothesized that when told that an infectious disease can be contracted by engaging in likely or common behavior, people will experience less self-positivity bias than when told the disease can be contracted through unlikely or uncommon behavior. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to a likely/common group, an unlikely/uncommon group, and a control group. All participants read the same paragraph about the health consequences of viral meningitis and how it is contracted. For the likely/common group, the paragraph included, "Viral meningitis is caused by enteroviruses (common virus causing 'stomach flulike' symptoms) and can be contracted through close contact (touching, kissing) with an infected person." For the unlikely/uncommon group, the paragraph included, "Viral meningitis is caused by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and can be contracted through coming into contact with the blood, feces, urine, or saliva of an infected mouse." All participants were asked to estimate the likelihood of contracting the disease themselves and the likelihood for the average person (Table 1) .Table 1 Mean Estimated Probability of Contracting Viral Meningitis, by Group

In Study 2, 120 participants read a newspaper article about hepatitis C and were then randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, each receiving additional information about either two or eight relatively uncommon behaviors (eg, getting a tattoo, sharing a needle) or relatively common behaviors (eg, sharing a toothbrush, not bandaging a cut) that could spread the disease. Participants rated their concern for contracting hepatitis C on a scale of 1 (not at all concerned) to 7 (most concerned) (Table 2) .Table 2 Mean Concern of Contracting Hepatitis C Score, by Group and Condition

-The foot-in-the-door phenomenon predicts that:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c93_300c_a3bf_81dd0e9f497e_MD0008_00 The foot-in-the-door strategy is a compliance technique (meant to persuade someone to act) that involves first asking a small favor of someone, something that is easy to do and requires little effort or expense (eg, participation in a research study). Once the small favor is granted, a much larger favor (eg, taking a hepatitis C blood test) is requested. The foot-in-the-door phenomenon can be explained by the fact that behavior influences attitude: granting a small favor causes the individual to have a more positive attitude toward the person just helped, increasing the likelihood that the individual will agree to the larger favor. (Choice A) Agreeing to a big favor first and then a smaller favor is the opposite of the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. (Choice B) The door-in-the-face phenomenon predicts that an individual declining a big request (taking a hepatitis C blood test) will be more likely to comply with a subsequent request that is much smaller (participating in the research study). (Choice C) There is nothing about the foot-in-the-door phenomenon to suggest that the participants in Study 2 would be more agreeable to taking a hepatitis C test than those in Study 1 as the relative difficulties of the tasks in both studies were approximately the same. Educational objective: The foot-in-the-door phenomenon predicts that people are more likely to comply with a big request after they have already complied with a small request. This can be explained by a change in attitude: people tend to have more favorable attitudes toward those they have just helped, increasing the likelihood they will agree to the larger request.

Passage People Tend to Believe That They Are Less Vulnerable to to Negative