Beauty, Not Skin Cancer, Motivates Teens To Wear Sunscreen
Thursday, February 13, 2014 - 15:10
in Psychology & Sociology
Health education videos tell us what really matters to people. Two videos both began by offering information about UV light and sun-protective behaviors but then one describes the increased skin cancer risk of UV exposure and the other describes effects on appearance including wrinkles and premature aging. Cancer is too remote, but wrinkles are real, for teenagers. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that while teens who watched both videos learned and retained the same amount of knowledge about UV light and sun-protective behaviors, only the teens who watched the appearance-based video (and not the health-based video) actually changed these behaviors. read more