“Emotional” Role-Playing and Changes in Smoking Attitudes and Behavior

Abstract

The effectiveness of an “emotional” role-playing procedure for modifying smoking attitudes and behavior (Janis & Mann, 1965) was evaluated in three studies using 54 female smokers. Each experimental S role-played a patient who received information that she had lung cancer, would have to undergo an immediate operation, and would have to stop smoking; control Ss listened to a taped role-playing session. While experimental and control groups did not differ in attitude or behavior change, the comparison of pre- and post-measures of smoking attitudes indicated significant within-group changes on several items for both role-players and controls. The magnitude of attitude and smoking-rate changes was small, however, compared to the Janis and Mann data. Further analysis revealed that both the role-players and controls reported considerable emotional arousal during the sessions; paradoxically, such arousal was more closely associated with change-scores for control Ss than for the role-playing Ss.