This experiment compared the effectiveness of a dissuasive message about illicit drugs alone (one-sided condition), and combined with similar material about licit drugs (balanced conditions). The subjects were high-school students. Contrary to expectation, the one-sided message proved effective while its balanced counterparts did not. Explanations in terms of reactance and demand characteristics were found inadequate. It was suggested that the licit-referent content of the balanced messages offered subjects a worse-peril rationalization for permissive attitudes to illicit drugs.
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