This manuscript reports 2 experiments that were conducted to test and extend the work of J. P. Dillard and L. Shen (2005) examining the cognitive and affective processes involved in psychological reactance. In particular, the studies reported here (a) examined the best-fitting model of reactance processes and (b) tested 3 factors that may affect reactance including argument quality, severity of the consequences associated with the message topic, and magnitude of the request made in the message. The results showed that the intertwined cognitive-affective model was the best-fitting model of reactance processes. Magnitude of the request was the only variable that affected reactance. The implications of these findings for research on reactance and persuasive health campaigns are discussed.

Despite the importance of health information seeking, not all people engage in such behaviors, especially when thinking about the disease is distressing. The focus of this paper is to examine the antecedents of information seeking and retention. Based on individuals' risk perception and efficacy beliefs, the risk perception attitude framework is used to formulate four groups: responsive (high risk, high efficacy), avoidance (high risk, low efficacy), proactive (low risk, high efficacy), and indifference (low risk, low efficacy). In Study 1, a 2 (risk) 3 2 (efficacy) between-subjects experiment, participants' perceived risk to skin cancer and skin cancer-related efficacy beliefs were induced to determine their information seeking, retention, and intentions to engage in future seeking. The responsive group, as predicted, was associated with the most information-seeking behaviors and information-seeking intentions. The avoidance group, however, sought information but exhibited the lowest retention scores. These results were used to derive two predictions-the incredulity hypothesis and the anxiety-reduction hypothesis-that were then tested in Study 2. Study 2, also a 2 (risk) 3 2 (efficacy) betweensubjects experiment dealing with diabetes, found support for the anxiety-reduction hypothesis, which argues that the high-risk, low-efficacy group experiences more anxiety, which leads to high motivations to seek, but lower ability to retain information.

This literature summary, using meta-analysis, compares the influence of parents versus peers on substance use. The data indicated that the average relationship for peer effects on substance use was larger than the effect for parental influence. Several moderating influences (such as youth age and type of substance) are considered. The findings indicate that the relative size of parental and peer influence varies with the age of the adolescent and the type of substance. The results indicate that both parents and peers influence decisions about substance use. Future educational interventions concerning substance use should consider how best to combine these two sources of influence.

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