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Trust your feelings: reliance on reason versus emotions in seeking mental health products and services

Despite the critical importance of mental health, many people often feel reluctant to seek treatment for their mental health conditions. This research examines a novel factor that influences people’s pursuit of mental health support: individual decision-making style. Across six studies, I demonstrate that individuals who predominantly rely on reason in decision-making are less likely to engage in the pursuit of mental health resources compared to those who rely on emotions. Furthermore, I find that this effect occurs because reason-based processing, as opposed to emotion-based processing, decreases individuals’ perceived severity of their mental health symptoms. Consequently, they are less likely to recognize the need for help, leading to a negative impact on their engagement with and utilization of mental health products and services. These findings contribute to research on decision-making style and consumer mental health. In addition to its theoretical significance, the current research aims to pave the way for further explorations into a largely neglected but increasingly important domain of consumer research, the consumer pursuit of mental health resources.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48892
Date28 May 2024
CreatorsLee, Jaewoo
ContributorsTrudel, Remi
Source SetsBoston University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation

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