Latent fear-arousing potential of fear-moderating and fear-neutral health promoting information

The study examines the potential of fear-moderating and fear-neutral health information for arousing latent fears and consequently for generating a defensive response similar to that of manifest fear-arousing communications. It was hypothesized that messages may have such a potential when they relate to a type of undesirable behavior (e.g. smoking) which is commonly believed to be linked with some incurable, frequently fatal consequences (e.g. cancer). The hypothesis gained support from an investiation carried out among a representative sample of Israeli Jewish adults, following televised antismoking and cancer screening campaigns. The data indicate (a) that a latent (not broadcast) feararousing content (“Smoking causes cancer”) constitutes a central underlying factor of all manifest (broadcast) fear-moderating and fear-neutral content items; (b) that, in general, the salience of the latent content is greater than that of manifest items. However (c) the salience of both the latent and manifest contents decreases with the increase in health hazardous (undesirable) behavior (volume of smoking). Inferentially, data conform to conclusions from previous studies, which indicated that the arousal of distress due to the threat of a disease may generate a defensive rather than a coping response unless accompanied by a perception of feasible and efficacious ways of coping. Due to the underlying centrality of a latent threatening perceived reality, any message relating to the undesirable behavior may arouse latent fears, even if the formulations are in neutral or reassuring terms. Thus a message may result in a defensive response, independent of its formulation, unless it is efficacious in disproving latent, commonly shared threatening beliefs.