Extending the Theory of Reactance to Guilt Appeals

Abstract

Abstract. This study examines the process of reactance induced by guilt appeals. Participants (N = 240 US high school students) received messages that advocated taking school seriously. The results of a 3 (guilt appeal level: low, moderate, high) × 2 (message referent: other, self) experiment indicated that guilt directly influenced the affective component of reactance – anger – but its effect on the cognitive component of reactance – relevant negative thoughts – was mediated via the awareness that messages used guilt to induce persuasion. Subsequently, reactance was negatively related to the advocated position. These findings suggest that employing guilt appeals in mass media campaigns for adolescents may be counterproductive: The guiltier the participants felt, the less positive were their attitudes toward taking school seriously. The study expands the scope of reactance theory by associating reactance with guilt appeals and examining the process by which reactance is induced. These and other results are discussed along with implications, limitations, and future research directions.