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A Person-Centered Approach to Moralization—The Case of Vaping

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Arhiri

    (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Str. Toma Cozma 3, 700554 Iasi, Romania)

  • Mihaela A. Gherman

    (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Str. Toma Cozma 3, 700554 Iasi, Romania)

  • Andrei C. Holman

    (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Str. Toma Cozma 3, 700554 Iasi, Romania)

Abstract

Using e-cigarettes for smoking cessation is a controversial topic among health experts. Evidence suggests that vaping might have been moralized among the general public. Despite the detrimental consequences of moralizing health behaviors on social cohesion and health, some argue for using moralization strategically to prevent and combat vaping. We aim to add to the body of literature showing the dangers of moralization in health by proposing a person-centered approach to the moralization of anti-vaping attitudes. Our cross-sectional survey explores the moralization of anti-vaping attitudes and its predictors on a convenience sample of 348 Romanian never-vapers, before the final vote to severely restrict vaping. By fitting a hierarchical regression model on our data, we found support for a unique contribution of negative prototypes (β = 0.13) and opinions of vapers (β = 0.08) in predicting moralization, with significant contributions of piggybacking on moralized self-control, on moralized attitudes toward smoking and on sanctity/degradation, disgust, anger, harm to children, and gender. Together, these variables explained 56% of the variance of the moralization of anti-vaping attitudes. Our findings add to our knowledge of motivated moralization and advise against using moralization in health, suggesting that people may weaponize it to legitimize group dislike.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Arhiri & Mihaela A. Gherman & Andrei C. Holman, 2022. "A Person-Centered Approach to Moralization—The Case of Vaping," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5628-:d:809008
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ringel, Megan M. & Ditto, Peter H., 2019. "The moralization of obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Pierre-Olivier Robert & Adeline Grard & Nora Mélard & Martin Mlinarić & Arja Rimpelä & Matthias Richter & Anton E Kunst & Vincent Lorant, 2020. "The effect of school smoke-free policies on smoking stigmatization: A European comparison study among adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Eboneé N. Butler & Marissa G. Hall & May S. Chen & Jessica K. Pepper & Hart Blanton & Noel T. Brewer, 2020. "The Prototypes of Tobacco Users Scale (POTUS) for Cigarette Smoking and E-Cigarette Use: Development and Validation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Laura Arhiri & Mihaela Alexandra Gherman & Andrei Corneliu Holman, 2022. "Using Moralization as a Persuasion Strategy in Public Health Messages: A Cross-Sectional, Experimental Study on Vaping," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-16, November.

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