Effects of social comparison framing of racial health disparities and behaviors

Abstract Messages that feature intergroup comparisons (social comparison frames) regularly communicate the relative prevalence of health problems and preventive behaviors. While prior studies find that comparing disease risks between racial groups are met with resistance from the disadvantaged group, we extended existing research by investigating if behavioral comparisons which show that the higher-risk group also excels in disease prevention efforts could mitigate negative impacts of disease risk comparisons. We conducted two preregistered experiments to examine the effects of comparing cancer risks and the prevalence of screening behaviors between Black and White Americans. Communicating racial disparities in breast cancer mortality reduced perceived risks and fear among White Americans (the less-at-risk group) and decreased cancer screening intention among Black Americans (the disadvantaged group). Adding cancer screening prevalence comparisons did not shift screening intentions among Black Americans but changed their support for disparity-reducing policies, though the effects depended on the disease in question.