Health Locus of Control and Defensive Bias

Abstract

Research has shown that when individuals receive threatening health messages, they show a greater tendency to be critical than if the message contained favorable information. The purpose of the study was to determine if presenting threatening messages regarding an unfamiliar fictitious disorder would affect defensive processing, using an internet-based approach. Another purpose of the study was to determine if individuals' health locus of control poses as a moderating variable in processing threatening health messages. College-aged participants completed questions regarding personal caffeine consumption and health locus of control, then were asked to read an article linking caffeine consumption to fibrocystic disease, and finally answered questions regarding the effects of caffeine on health. It was found that participants most threatened by the message did not engage in more defensive processing than participants least threatened. In addition, despite the amount of caffeine consumption reported, health locus of control was not related to the tendency to engage in defensive processing.