Self-Distancing as a Persuasive Amplifier for Increasing Help-Seeking among People with Depression
type: CreativeWork
description: People with high levels of depressive symptomatology report less favorable attitudes toward help-seeking and reduced help-seeking intentions than people with lower levels of depressive symptomatology. While some attempts to persuade people with depression to seek help have been successful, others have failed. Preliminary research using both perspective-taking and mental time-travel self-distancing writing tasks have shown potential. However, a video that asked people to think, rather than write, about help-seeking from a distanced perspective failed to increase help-seeking outcomes. This dissertation tests a new approach where participants are prompted to take a self-distanced approach while watching existing help-seeking video messages. In these two studies self-distancing is used as a persuasive amplifier to boost the effectiveness of help-seeking messages. In study 1, participants were instructed to view a video Depression Public Service Advertisement (D-PSA) either from the perspective of their current self (immersive condition) or from the perspective of an objective other (distancing condition). Help-seeking attitudes, help-seeking intentions, and the negativity of thoughts in response to the D-PSAs were measured. The results of study 1 showed that viewing the D-PSA from a self-distanced perspective improved help-seeking attitudes in comparison to the immersive and control condition, and reduced negative thoughts compared to the immersive condition. Additionally, a significant interaction between depression symptomatology and self-distancing was found, such that self-distancing’s positive impact on attitudes was stronger at higher levels of depression. In study 2, participants were randomly assigned to one of two self-distancing conditions, or a control condition. The perspective-taking condition replicated the self-distancing condition from study 1. The mental time-travel condition asked participants to view the message from the point of view of their future…
abstract: People with high levels of depressive symptomatology report less favorable attitudes toward help-seeking and reduced help-seeking intentions than people with lower levels of depressive symptomatology. While some attempts to persuade people with depression to seek help have been successful, others have failed. Preliminary research using both perspective-taking and mental time-travel self-distancing writing tasks have shown potential. However, a video that asked people to think, rather than write, about help-seeking from a distanced perspective failed to increase help-seeking outcomes. This dissertation tests a new approach where participants are prompted to take a self-distanced approach while watching existing help-seeking video messages. In these two studies self-distancing is used as a persuasive amplifier to boost the effectiveness of help-seeking messages. In study 1, participants were instructed to view a video Depression Public Service Advertisement (D-PSA) either from the perspective of their current self (immersive condition) or from the perspective of an objective other (distancing condition). Help-seeking attitudes, help-seeking intentions, and the negativity of thoughts in response to the D-PSAs were measured. The results of study 1 showed that viewing the D-PSA from a self-distanced perspective improved help-seeking attitudes in comparison to the immersive and control condition, and reduced negative thoughts compared to the immersive condition. Additionally, a significant interaction between depression symptomatology and self-distancing was found, such that self-distancing’s positive impact on attitudes was stronger at higher levels of depression. In study 2, participants were randomly assigned to one of two self-distancing conditions, or a control condition. The perspective-taking condition replicated the self-distancing condition from study 1. The mental time-travel condition asked participants to view the message from the point of view of their future…
author: Hollar, Sara M.
keywords: depression, help-seeking, persuasion, self-distancing, Psychology
date published: 2022-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:40:15Z
provider: Claremont Graduate University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Claremont Graduate University