A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Guilt on Health-Related Attitudes and Intentions

doi:10.1080/10410236.2017.1278633

Paper

A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Guilt on Health-Related Attitudes and Intentions

Published May 1, 2018 · Zhan Xu, Hao Guo

Health Communication

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61

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Guilt appeals are successful in encouraging healthy behaviors as proved by many studies. However, there has been no previous systematic review of guilt research in health domain. Thus, a meta-analysis of eight studies (2,061 subjects) was conducted to examine the effectiveness of guilt on health-related attitudes and intentions. The result revealed a strong positive overall effect of guilt (r = .49, 95% CI 0.31–0.64) despite the heterogeneity. Guilt had a stronger power in changing attitudes/intentions when paired with text-only messages than text-picture mixed messages. For studies using a college sample, the percentage of females marginally moderated the effect of guilt. Whether a message was self focused or other focused did not significantly moderate the effect of guilt. Future directions and practical implications are provided.

Meta-Analysis

Study Snapshot

Guilt has a strong positive overall effect on health-related attitudes and intentions, particularly when paired with text-only messages.

PopulationOlder adults (50-71 years)

Sample size24

MethodsObservational

OutcomesBody Mass Index projections

ResultsSocial networks mitigate obesity in older groups.

A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Guilt on Health-Related Attitudes and Intentions

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