I know it is good for my health but that does not mean I do it: Emotional outcomes of trying to bridge the gap

Abstract

Background

Researchers often file unsolicited comments included in data collection in the bottom drawer and exclude them from data analysis, despite such comments capturing raw and unfiltered perspectives. Research on psychological reactance often relies on direct measures, such as surveys or self-reports. While useful, these methods overlook spontaneous unsolicited comments, which are a critical source of unfiltered emotional insight that provides the explanatory context necessary to interpret observed outcomes, rather than merely describe them.

Objective

The aim of this study was to analyse unsolicited comments from employees in a workplace behavioural change intervention that used a choice default option design.

Method

The study sample comprised 139 desk-based employees working across government sites. The data consisted of unsolicited comments included in email correspondence from employees requesting withdrawal from the study.

Results

We identified two themes that reflected the presence of reactance motivation. These were negative cognitions (e.g., thoughts of unfairness) and anger (e.g., aggressive feelings towards the nudge), which are consistent with reactance models. Various sub-themes such as hyperbolic discounting and anxiety indicated the various emotional pathways for the development of reactance.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that the use of a choice default option nudge as a design to bridge the gap between intention and action to change health behaviour can trigger negative spill-over effects which led to non-compliance. Given the unsolicited comments were accrued over a 12-month period, the trade-off between perceptions of a loss of freedom of choice and improved health might be acceptable to some individuals.