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The effects of peripheral message cues on clinicians' judgments about clients' psychological status
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 04:35 authored by Brewer, N, Barnes, J, James SauerJames SauerThis research examined the influence of peripheral message cues on clinicians' judgment about the psychological status of clients. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of social persuasion suggests that peripheral message cues are likely to exert a greater influence on clinicians' judgments when a client's presentation meets some, but not all, diagnostic criteria for a disorder (i.e., when the presentation is ambiguous). Within this theoretical framework, we examined the effects of a peripheral message cue (level of irrelevant detail in the client's presentation) and presentation ambiguity on clinicians' judgments of need for treatment, illness severity, and distress. Consistent with predictions based on the ELM, for both obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder presentations, high levels of irrelevant detail exerted a greater influence on clinicians' judgments of clients' need for treatment when presentation ambiguity was high than when it was low.
History
Publication title
British Journal of Clinical PsychologyVolume
50Pagination
67-83ISSN
2044-8260Department/School
School of Psychological SciencesPublisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Place of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2010 The British Psychological SocietyRepository Status
- Restricted