The influence of health news exemplars on college students' optimistic bias of breast cancer risk perception and behavior intention to engage in preventive behaviors

Abstract

The current research tested the effects of exemplars on college student's optimistic bias of breast cancer risk perception and their behavioral intentions to engage in preventive behavior. Using a sample of Korean female college students, this study conducted two experiments. The findings suggest that threatening pictorial exemplars of breast cancer patients can be effective in boosting individuals' intentions to adopt recommended precautionary behaviors. Furthermore, adoption of such preventive behaviors is likely to be promoted by increasing one's perception of self-vulnerability to the disease rather than by decreasing one's self-serving bias of optimism.