Measuring defensive responses to threatening messages: a meta-analysis of measures

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to establish the nature and relative sensitivity of measures used to detect defensive responses to threatening messages. Databases were searched using a descendency approach to identify quasi-experimental or experimental studies which (i) exposed participants to information that could be personally threatening; (ii) included measures of defensiveness; and (iii) compared groups that differed in their expected defensiveness. Comparisons between three types of group were included: (a) those who naturally differed in the personal relevance of the threatening message; (b) those who had or had not received efficacy information; and (c) those who had or had not received self-affirmation. Thirty-five papers (reporting 43 studies) met these criteria. Twelve different types of defensiveness measures were identified. Of these, only three generated consistently expected results in relation to anticipated group differences. Suggestions are made for the use of multiple, standardised measures of defensive processing in future research.