Vested in support: Applying vested interest theory to increase support for close others with depression

Guided by vested interest theory, we assessed whether a lack of stake explains the discrepancy between people having positive attitudes toward their loved one's recovery from depression and the provision of support. We further investigated whether increasing the perceived personal consequences of providing support (i.e. stake) increased willingness to provide support. A stake-boosting message had no direct, but significant indirect effects on willingness to provide support when compared to a control and comparison condition. In summary, increasing stake in a loved one's recovery indirectly increases intentions to provide support.

Three-in-1,000 and dynamic norms: A mixed-method investigation of novel appeals for influencing organ donor registration

The current research investigated two rarely used appeals for increasing organ donor registration-both with the potential to backfire. The three-in-1000 appeal explains that less than one percent of people will die in such a way that their organs can be donated. This appeal could heighten awareness that donor registration is needed, but it can also convey that registering is futile. The dynamic norms appeal emphasizes the increasing number of people who are becoming registered donors. This appeal could increase the perceived normative nature of registration, but doing so can also lead potential donors to conclude that enough people are already registered. In Studies 1 and 2, participants recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk were randomly assigned to either one of these appeals, and their attitudes toward donor registration and intentions to register as a donor were compared to participants in a no-message control group. Study 2 included a qualitative component where participants were asked to describe their perceptions as to why the message was or was not influential. In both experiments, intentions to register were higher for those in both messaging conditions compared to the control group. Positive attitudes toward organ donation were higher in the three-in-1000 condition compared to the control group for both studies. Those in the dynamic norms condition reported more positive attitudes than the control group in Study 1, but not Study 2. In both studies, there was scant evidence of the messages backfiring. In the qualitative component of Study 2, self-reported reasons for the influence of each method provided insight into how and why these appeals were influential, and indicated signs of underdetection for the dynamic norms message.

A Content Analysis of Living Organ Donation Materials from Certified Transplant Centers

Despite the fact that living organ donation has the great potential to reduce the shortage of transplantable organs, it is still surrounded by many misconceptions, ethical concerns, and myths. Research conducted to understand factors contributing to public misconceptions related to living organ donation is rare. This research takes a content analytic approach to uncover how living organ donation is portrayed in materials developed and delivered by transplant centers across 11 regions. A total of 332 unique materials were analyzed. The results revealed that living kidney donation dominated the corpus of data whereas other living organ donations were largely overlooked. Benefits and risks associated with living organ donation were relatively evenly presented; however, social support necessary to donors and recipients and available resources to obtain social support were not sufficiently addressed. Embedded in these materials were 46 personal narrative stories. Analysis of these stories showed a focus on undirected living organ donation and revealed a wide range of emotional experiences. Significant regional differences were found in several themes, such as benefits and risks, and social support. Inconsistent information regarding living organ donation was present. Practical implications are discussed.

Preventing college student nonmedical prescription stimulant use: Development of vested interest theory-based persuasive messages

Vested interest theory (VIT) predicts that perceived importance and hedonic relevance of an expected behavioral outcome affects attitude-behavior consistency. Applied to college students' nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NUPS), the theory posits that persuasive information that weakens vested perceptions regarding assumed advantages of stimulant misuse will reduce usage intentions. The current study developed and experimentally assessed persuasive messages that targeted perceptions of vested interest (VI), and examined if message effectiveness varied as a function of users' risk status. Appeals that focused on the physical harms of misuse served as the comparison condition. College student participants (N = 282) were randomly assigned to one of four message conditions. To examine group differences, data were analyzed in a 2 (VIT-based message: yes, no) × 2 (Physical harms emphasized: yes, no) × 3 (User status: resolute, vulnerable, user) between-subjects factorial design. Analyses showed that messages focused on lowering VI by convincing students that NUPS did not enhance cognitive functioning of non-ADD/ADHD students reduced perceived vested interest (p < .001) and attitude favoribility p = .005. In vulnerable nonusers, these messages also decreased NUPS intentions p = .006. The effect of exposure to the physical harm communication was not significant. Findings support the potential of VIT-guided messages in NUPS prevention, and the lack of effect of messages focused on physical consequences of misuse.