University of Isfahan Research in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences 2251-7642 13 1 2023 08 23 Does providing information on narcotics lead to a positive attitude towards smoking? Considerations of the principle of perceptual contrast Does providing information on narcotics lead to a positive attitude towards smoking? Considerations of the principle of perceptual contrast 127 144 28139 10.22108/cbs.2024.137070.1742 FA Ashraf Sadat Mousavi Assistant of Professor, Department of psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Hazrat-e-Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran. Mohammad Ali Nekouie Manesh M.A. General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Tehran, Iran. . Mohmmad Reza Masjedi Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Tobacco Control Research Center (TCRC), Iranian anti-tobacco association, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2023 03 13 The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of perceptual contrast on smoking attitudes by providing information about narcotics to individuals. A semi-experimental method was used with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. 45 smokers and 45 non-smokers were purposefully selected as samples from male undergraduate and graduate students of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran and Allameh Tabatabai universities. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used. Participants were divided into two groups of smokers and non-smokers, based on the results of the smoking addiction questionnaire. Then, each group was randomly divided into three groups including text intervention, film intervention, and control. The participants in the experimental groups received information during three sessions, but the control group did not. Information was provided to the experimental groups in the form of text intervention (a printed text) and film intervention (a documentary film). At the first and end of the intervention, participants’ attitudes toward smoking were reassessed, and two weeks later, to follow up on results. Then, the obtained data were analyzed through Mixed Anova. The research findings showed that the presentation of information about drugs, by establishing perceptual contrast made attitudes toward smoking positive. The differences between smoking and non-smoking and the difference between experimental groups (film and booklet) was significant. The result was confirmation about the principle of perceptual contrast, that means providing information about drugs, according to the principle of perceptual contrast, creates a more positive attitude towards smoking. This change in attitude remained almost stable over time and was confirmed in both groups of smokers and non-smokers and in both groups of intervention with booklet and intervention with film. Attitude change is done because compared to the information that states the harms of drugs, the harms of smoking are less important, and therefore the person's attitude towards smoking becomes more positive. Introduction The principle of the perceptual contrast is a cognitive rule about human perceptions that shows the changes in the way the individuals perceive. This principle describes evaluating the differences between two material that are presented one after the other. If the second material is slightly different from the first one, the individual tends to see it differently from what it really is (Cialdini, 2001). The principle of perceptual contrast has been used as a persuasive strategy to change people’s attitudes and to explain some phenomena. There is a great body of research on the subject of the study, attitudes towards smoking, along with broad themes such as a variety of prevention and treatment strategies. However, the role of persuasion and its techniques specially the principle of perceptual contrast, which is one of the most effective strategies of persuasion - has been neglected so far. In addition, interventions in this area have not taken into account the role of other information that persons receive from other sources about other addictive substances (which are often more harmful than cigarettes). In fact, the information that persons receive about smoking is part of a wider range of information that comes from various sources of addictive substances. Methodology The research design was a semi-experimental one with a pre-test/post-test design and a follow-up test with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all male students of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti & Allameh Tabatabaei universities, in the academic year 2019-2020 who did not have a mental disorder and had never used drugs. Sampling was done through purposive sampling method. Ninety participants were assigned into two groups of smokers and non-smokers (each with 45 subjects). Each group was divided, by drawing lots, into three groups. The three groups received information using textual content, video content, or without receiving information. Each group included 15 participants. Data collection tools were the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ–28) and a questionnaire to assess smoking addiction. Participants’ attitudes toward smoking were measured before the invention. The intervention was conducted in the experimental groups during three sessions in a three-day period. A thirty-page booklet about hard substances for the textual intervention and a ninety-minute documentary about hard substances were used for the visual intervention. The intervention group with textual information read ten pages of the booklet per session and the alternative one watched half an hour of documentary film per session. The booklet and the documentary film contained information about narcotics. After the intervention, subjects’ attitudes toward smoking were measured through the post-test. To follow the effects of perceptual contrast over time, the attitudes of the participants were re-measured after two weeks. Mixed analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The mean and the standard deviation of the participants’ scores in the Implicit Association Test were presented in Table 1. Table 1. The means and standard deviations of the Implicit Association Test Smoking groups Experimental groups Pre-test Post-test Follow-up Mean Standard deviation Mean Standard deviation Mean Standard deviation Smokers Text 0.65 0.30 0.57 0.30 0.60 0.15 Film 0.60 0.21 0.45 0.26 0.43 0.17 Control 0.68 0.18 0.73 0.13 0.68 0.15 Total 0.64 0.23 0.58 0.26 0.57 0.18 Non-smokers Text 0.69 0.24 0.51 0.24 0.56 0.13 Film 0.82 0.21 0.41 0.11 0.40 0.10 Control 0.77 0.14 0.78 0.16 0.77 0.13 Total 0.76 0.20 0.57 0.23 0.58 0.19 Total Text 0.67 0.27 0.54 0.27 0.58 0.14 Film 0.71 0.23 0.43 0.19 0.42 0.14 Control 0.72 0.17 0.75 0.14 0.73 0.15 Total 0.70 0.22 0.58 0.24 0.57 0.19 Mauchly’s sphericity test showed insignificant results. The results of mixed variance analysis (Table 2) showed the main effect of the test phase is significant (F: 14.73, sig < 0.01). Thus, participants’ attitudes in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up phases are significantly different. The interactive effects of the test phase and experimental group on IAT scores were significant (F: 7.69, sig<0.01). The interactive effects of the test phase, the smoking group (F: 3.64, sig < 0.01,) and the main effect of the experimental group were significant (F= 14.72, sig < 0.01) too. Table 2. The results of the mixed analysis of variance test Source Sum of squares Degrees of freedom Mean squares F Sig. Intra-subjective Measurement stage 0.80 2 0.40 14.73 0.001 Smoker/non-smoker 0.19 2 0.09 3.64 0.02 Type of intervention 0.83 4 0.20 7.69 0.001 Error (test phase) 3.85 142 0.02 - - The test power (and the effect size) of the study were 0.989 (and 0.614). The highest power of the test was related to the comparison of smoking/film & non-smoking/control groups. After that, the most significant difference was related to the comparison of film intervention and control in both smoking and non-smoking groups, and then related to text intervention and control in both smoking and non-smoking groups. The power of the test and the effect size fell in the range of strong and very strong. Discussion and conclusion The results of this study showed that providing information on narcotics may reduce the obscenity of smoking and lead to the underestimation of negative consequences of smoking, creating a positive attitude towards smoking. This change in attitude remains almost constant over time and may even increase. These findings were true for both smokers and nonsmokers. The results also showed that the presentation of information both textually and visually can create this effect, although, as other studies show, the visual content is more effective in this regard (Chou, et al., 2009). This is probably because participants are more emotionally connected to the visual content, which increases the pictures’ persuasive power over the texts. Although efforts had been made to ensure that the content of both media contains only pure information and is not emotionally charged, the inherent appeal of the visual content seems to be involved here (Montazeri, et al. 2008). This study, along with many other studies, reveals that the sequential presentation of stimuli of varying intensity affects subjects’ perceptions (Cialdini, 2001). The results of this study can be used by policymakers working in the field of drugs and tobacco addiction. The results of this study show that various media advertisements against narcotics may create a positive attitude towards smoking among the audience, and this may lead people to use more dangerous drugs while media advertising against smoking can lead to creating a negative attitude towards both smoking and drugs. [1] The present article is an adaptation of a research project titled “The impact of information providing about narcotics and stimulants on people's attitudes towards smoking: A test for the principle of perceptual contras”' and is provided with the material and scientific support of the Tobacco Control Research Center affiliated with the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association. * Corresponding author [2]. Assistant of Professor, Department of psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Hazrat-e-Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran. ORCID: ??? Email: a.mosavi@hmu.ac.ir [3]. M.A. General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Tehran, Iran. [4]. Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Tobacco Control Research Center (TCRC), Iranian anti-tobacco association, Tehran, Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of perceptual contrast on smoking attitudes by providing information about narcotics to individuals. A semi-experimental method was used with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. 45 smokers and 45 non-smokers were purposefully selected as samples from male undergraduate and graduate students of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran and Allameh Tabatabai universities. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used. Participants were divided into two groups of smokers and non-smokers, based on the results of the smoking addiction questionnaire. Then, each group was randomly divided into three groups including text intervention, film intervention, and control. The participants in the experimental groups received information during three sessions, but the control group did not. Information was provided to the experimental groups in the form of text intervention (a printed text) and film intervention (a documentary film). At the first and end of the intervention, participants’ attitudes toward smoking were reassessed, and two weeks later, to follow up on results. Then, the obtained data were analyzed through Mixed Anova. The research findings showed that the presentation of information about drugs, by establishing perceptual contrast made attitudes toward smoking positive. The differences between smoking and non-smoking and the difference between experimental groups (film and booklet) was significant. The result was confirmation about the principle of perceptual contrast, that means providing information about drugs, according to the principle of perceptual contrast, creates a more positive attitude towards smoking. This change in attitude remained almost stable over time and was confirmed in both groups of smokers and non-smokers and in both groups of intervention with booklet and intervention with film. Attitude change is done because compared to the information that states the harms of drugs, the harms of smoking are less important, and therefore the person's attitude towards smoking becomes more positive. Introduction The principle of the perceptual contrast is a cognitive rule about human perceptions that shows the changes in the way the individuals perceive. This principle describes evaluating the differences between two material that are presented one after the other. If the second material is slightly different from the first one, the individual tends to see it differently from what it really is (Cialdini, 2001). The principle of perceptual contrast has been used as a persuasive strategy to change people’s attitudes and to explain some phenomena. There is a great body of research on the subject of the study, attitudes towards smoking, along with broad themes such as a variety of prevention and treatment strategies. However, the role of persuasion and its techniques specially the principle of perceptual contrast, which is one of the most effective strategies of persuasion - has been neglected so far. In addition, interventions in this area have not taken into account the role of other information that persons receive from other sources about other addictive substances (which are often more harmful than cigarettes). In fact, the information that persons receive about smoking is part of a wider range of information that comes from various sources of addictive substances. Methodology The research design was a semi-experimental one with a pre-test/post-test design and a follow-up test with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all male students of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti & Allameh Tabatabaei universities, in the academic year 2019-2020 who did not have a mental disorder and had never used drugs. Sampling was done through purposive sampling method. Ninety participants were assigned into two groups of smokers and non-smokers (each with 45 subjects). Each group was divided, by drawing lots, into three groups. The three groups received information using textual content, video content, or without receiving information. Each group included 15 participants. Data collection tools were the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ–28) and a questionnaire to assess smoking addiction. Participants’ attitudes toward smoking were measured before the invention. The intervention was conducted in the experimental groups during three sessions in a three-day period. A thirty-page booklet about hard substances for the textual intervention and a ninety-minute documentary about hard substances were used for the visual intervention. The intervention group with textual information read ten pages of the booklet per session and the alternative one watched half an hour of documentary film per session. The booklet and the documentary film contained information about narcotics. After the intervention, subjects’ attitudes toward smoking were measured through the post-test. To follow the effects of perceptual contrast over time, the attitudes of the participants were re-measured after two weeks. Mixed analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The mean and the standard deviation of the participants’ scores in the Implicit Association Test were presented in Table 1. Table 1. The means and standard deviations of the Implicit Association Test Smoking groups Experimental groups Pre-test Post-test Follow-up Mean Standard deviation Mean Standard deviation Mean Standard deviation Smokers Text 0.65 0.30 0.57 0.30 0.60 0.15 Film 0.60 0.21 0.45 0.26 0.43 0.17 Control 0.68 0.18 0.73 0.13 0.68 0.15 Total 0.64 0.23 0.58 0.26 0.57 0.18 Non-smokers Text 0.69 0.24 0.51 0.24 0.56 0.13 Film 0.82 0.21 0.41 0.11 0.40 0.10 Control 0.77 0.14 0.78 0.16 0.77 0.13 Total 0.76 0.20 0.57 0.23 0.58 0.19 Total Text 0.67 0.27 0.54 0.27 0.58 0.14 Film 0.71 0.23 0.43 0.19 0.42 0.14 Control 0.72 0.17 0.75 0.14 0.73 0.15 Total 0.70 0.22 0.58 0.24 0.57 0.19 Mauchly’s sphericity test showed insignificant results. The results of mixed variance analysis (Table 2) showed the main effect of the test phase is significant (F: 14.73, sig < 0.01). Thus, participants’ attitudes in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up phases are significantly different. The interactive effects of the test phase and experimental group on IAT scores were significant (F: 7.69, sig<0.01). The interactive effects of the test phase, the smoking group (F: 3.64, sig < 0.01,) and the main effect of the experimental group were significant (F= 14.72, sig < 0.01) too. Table 2. The results of the mixed analysis of variance test Source Sum of squares Degrees of freedom Mean squares F Sig. Intra-subjective Measurement stage 0.80 2 0.40 14.73 0.001 Smoker/non-smoker 0.19 2 0.09 3.64 0.02 Type of intervention 0.83 4 0.20 7.69 0.001 Error (test phase) 3.85 142 0.02 - - The test power (and the effect size) of the study were 0.989 (and 0.614). The highest power of the test was related to the comparison of smoking/film & non-smoking/control groups. After that, the most significant difference was related to the comparison of film intervention and control in both smoking and non-smoking groups, and then related to text intervention and control in both smoking and non-smoking groups. The power of the test and the effect size fell in the range of strong and very strong. Discussion and conclusion The results of this study showed that providing information on narcotics may reduce the obscenity of smoking and lead to the underestimation of negative consequences of smoking, creating a positive attitude towards smoking. This change in attitude remains almost constant over time and may even increase. These findings were true for both smokers and nonsmokers. The results also showed that the presentation of information both textually and visually can create this effect, although, as other studies show, the visual content is more effective in this regard (Chou, et al., 2009). This is probably because participants are more emotionally connected to the visual content, which increases the pictures’ persuasive power over the texts. Although efforts had been made to ensure that the content of both media contains only pure information and is not emotionally charged, the inherent appeal of the visual content seems to be involved here (Montazeri, et al. 2008). This study, along with many other studies, reveals that the sequential presentation of stimuli of varying intensity affects subjects’ perceptions (Cialdini, 2001). The results of this study can be used by policymakers working in the field of drugs and tobacco addiction. The results of this study show that various media advertisements against narcotics may create a positive attitude towards smoking among the audience, and this may lead people to use more dangerous drugs while media advertising against smoking can lead to creating a negative attitude towards both smoking and drugs. [1] The present article is an adaptation of a research project titled “The impact of information providing about narcotics and stimulants on people's attitudes towards smoking: A test for the principle of perceptual contras”' and is provided with the material and scientific support of the Tobacco Control Research Center affiliated with the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association. * Corresponding author [2]. Assistant of Professor, Department of psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Hazrat-e-Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran. ORCID: ??? Email: a.mosavi@hmu.ac.ir [3]. M.A. General Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Tehran, Iran. [4]. Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Tobacco Control Research Center (TCRC), Iranian anti-tobacco association, Tehran, Iran.

https://cbs.ui.ac.ir/article_28139_d8d70a117805cf0007780b006b00e5f7.pdf