The effects of motivation, ability, and heuristic cues on systematic processing of information about breast cancer environmental factors
Smith SW, Clark-Hitt R, Nazione S, Russell J, Silk KJ, Atkin CK.
Michigan State University, Lansing, MI.
Journal of Health Communication, 2013
Lay Abstract
This study investigated how ability, motivation and heuristic messages predict knowledge scores for individuals looking at different messages. 4,000 women participated in an online survey that tested messages about three environmental risk factors for breast cancer: genetics, progesterone, and ingesting perfluorooctanoic acid. The results showed that ability, measured as education, number of science courses taken, and confidence in scientific ability predict knowledge gain. Those presented with a message written at a lower literacy level had higher knowledge score for all three message topics. |
