Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 2014 · 211 citations · 46 references
RhetoricEnemy MetaphorsCommunicationPolicy AnalysisCancer EducationPsychologyRisk CommunicationPreventive MedicinePrevention ProgramsHealth CommunicationPublic HealthHealth RhetoricWar MetaphorsPublic PolicyBehavioral SciencesCancer LiteracyPrevention SystemDisease PreventionHealth PromotionCancer PreventionSocial CognitionInterpersonal CommunicationVisual MetaphorPreventive CarePrevention ScienceArtsPersuasion
Cancer health messaging frequently uses enemy and war metaphors, which may shape how people understand and respond to cancer, yet prevention relies on risk avoidance rather than combat. The study examined whether framing cancer as an enemy diminishes intentions to engage in self‑limiting prevention behaviors. Participants read messages that varied slightly in wording to create distinct metaphoric frames. Enemy framing lowered the accessibility and intention for self‑limiting prevention behaviors but did not boost monitoring or treatment intentions, and matching the metaphor to self‑limiting actions increased their appeal, indicating that enemy metaphors can harm prevention efforts.
Cancer health information is dominated by enemy and war metaphors intended to motivate the public to "fight" cancer. However, enemy metaphoric framing may influence understanding of, and responses to, cancer. Cancer prevention benefits from avoiding risk increasing behaviors, yet self-limitation is not closely associated with fighting enemies. If so, the metaphor may hurt prevention intentions involving self-limitation. Participants read messages with minute wording variations that established different metaphoric frames. Results show that metaphorically framing cancer as an enemy lessens the conceptual accessibility of (Study 1) and intention for self-limiting prevention behaviors while not increasing intention for monitoring and treatment behaviors (Studies 2 and 3). Framing self-limiting prevention behaviors in terms of fighting an enemy increases their appeal, illustrating the benefits of metaphor matching (Study 3). Overall, these results suggest that enemy metaphors in cancer information reduce some prevention intentions without increasing others, making their use potentially harmful for public health.
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