TY - JOUR
T1 - Health promotion messages in entertainment media
T2 - Crime drama viewership and intentions to intervene in a sexual assault situation
AU - Hust, Stacey J.T.
AU - Marett, Emily Garrigues
AU - Lei, Ming
AU - Chang, Hua
AU - Ren, Chunbo
AU - McNab, Anna Lazárová
AU - Adams, Paula M.
PY - 2013/1/1
Y1 - 2013/1/1
N2 - Popular crime dramas have tackled sensitive issues such as sexual assault with increasing frequency over the past 20 years. These popular programs increasingly demonstrate the emotional and physical effect of sexual assault on its victims, and in some instances they depict individuals being rewarded for intervening to prevent or stop an assault in progress. It is possible that this content could affect attitudes related to sexual assault prevention. However, no previous research has examined this possibility. In the fall 2008 semester, 508 undergraduates at a large northwestern university completed a questionnaire about media use and bystander intervention in a sexual assault situation. Results from hierarchical regressions lend support for the integrative model of behavioral prediction in that instrumentality, rape myth acceptance, perceived social norms, perceived efficacy related to intervening, and exposure to primetime crime dramas were associated with participants' intentions to intervene in a sexual assault. The results suggest that crime dramas may be a useful venue for prevention messages as exposure to crime dramas uniquely contributed to intentions to intervene in a sexual assault.
AB - Popular crime dramas have tackled sensitive issues such as sexual assault with increasing frequency over the past 20 years. These popular programs increasingly demonstrate the emotional and physical effect of sexual assault on its victims, and in some instances they depict individuals being rewarded for intervening to prevent or stop an assault in progress. It is possible that this content could affect attitudes related to sexual assault prevention. However, no previous research has examined this possibility. In the fall 2008 semester, 508 undergraduates at a large northwestern university completed a questionnaire about media use and bystander intervention in a sexual assault situation. Results from hierarchical regressions lend support for the integrative model of behavioral prediction in that instrumentality, rape myth acceptance, perceived social norms, perceived efficacy related to intervening, and exposure to primetime crime dramas were associated with participants' intentions to intervene in a sexual assault. The results suggest that crime dramas may be a useful venue for prevention messages as exposure to crime dramas uniquely contributed to intentions to intervene in a sexual assault.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872465573&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10810730.2012.688241
DO - 10.1080/10810730.2012.688241
M3 - Article
C2 - 23020668
AN - SCOPUS:84872465573
SN - 1081-0730
VL - 18
SP - 105
EP - 123
JO - Journal of Health Communication
JF - Journal of Health Communication
IS - 1
ER -
