Expectancies and Attitudes Towards Alcohol Consumption

Expectancies and Attitudes Towards Alcohol Consumption
Student’s Name
Institution
Applying Social Cognitive Theory
Part One
Question One
The article by Mayrhofer and Naderer (2019) examined how the portrayal of alcohol by the media influenced participants’ expectancies and attitudes towards alcohol. The audience being investigated was adults who consume alcohol. The researchers hypothesized that media portrayal of alcohol might affect the expectancies and attitudes of participants regarding alcohol. The alcohol expectancies explored were sociability, behavioral, and cognitive impairment. Specifically, the researchers investigated whether individuals exposed to the portrayal of positive alcohol consequences would have stronger, positive expectancies when it comes to alcohol and higher sociability. They also investigated whether those individuals would have more positive attitudes about alcohol as well as weaker negative alcohol expectancies in relation to behavioral or cognitive impairment when exposed to positive alcohol consequences compared to negative alcohol consequences in the media. The researchers also investigated whether exposure to negative alcohol consequences in the media enhances negative attitudes towards alcohol when compared to exposure to positive or no consequences. The effects of the media’s portrayal of negative consequences on the strength/ weakness of alcohol expectancies were also examined.
The effect was intended because it is something that could have been foreseen. By portraying alcohol in a positive or negative light, the media is trying to achieve certain results. This could inform the audience of the negative consequences of alcohol, which could then reduce alcohol consumption. Or it could be to inform them of the positive consequences of alcohol which would increase alcohol consumption. Either way, how the media chooses to portray alcohol shapes and informs people’s attitudes towards and expectations from alcohol.
Question Two
In the study, participants’ alcohol consumption level was explored as a moderator of the effect. Specifically, the study investigated whether alcohol consumption influences how the portrayal of alcohol consequences affects alcohol expectancies and attitudes. The researchers wanted to establish whether individuals with low, moderate, and high alcohol consumption levels expected different consequences following alcohol consumption. The level of alcohol consumption shapes the likelihood that an individual will have positive or negative expectancies and attitudes towards alcohol. In this instance, the individuals are not forming these expectancies or attitudes through vicarious experiences but through their own experiences. What Bandura (2001) reveals about the SCT is that the vicarious process is an important medium through which individuals acquire knowledge. But in the case of levels of alcohol consumption, individuals are not using vicarious experiences to inform their expectancies and attitudes.
It can, however, be associated with the SCT’s self-regulation capability. According to Bandura (2001), the self-regulation capability is characterized by forethought, which allows human beings to take courses of action that will lead to the achievement of desired outcomes and the avoidance of undesired outcomes. As such, based on their level of alcohol consumption, an individual will form attitudes and expectancies that will allow them to enhance the desired outcomes or avoid undesired outcomes of alcohol consumption. For instance, individuals with low levels of alcohol consumption might expect more negative consequences from alcohol consumption, and their forethought would be to minimize alcohol consumption to avoid the negative consequences associated with alcohol consumption.
Question Three
To test their hypothesis/ prediction, the researchers utilized an experimental approach. The experiment involved six short movies that were created to provide six different storylines. The researchers also introduced negative and positive consequences in the movies. The main character in the movies has different experiences with alcohol consumption. She experiences the positive consequences of alcohol in two versions of the movie, where she experiences a lot of fun moments with her friends while drunk. She experiences negative consequences of alcohol in two other versions of the movie, where she almost gets hit by a vehicle, loses her purse, and vomits while drunk. In two other versions, she does not experience any consequences while drunk. The experiment was also designed to portray the main character either positively or negatively.
Participants were exposed to one of the six movies at random and were then given questionnaires to fill about their attitudes towards and expectancies for alcohol. For example, those that were exposed to the movies portraying negative or positive consequences were asked to report whether their perception of alcohol consequences was negative or positive after watching the movies. They were also asked to report whether they perceived the main character as negative or positive based on what they saw in the movies.
Question Four
The researchers found out that the portrayal of...