Single Question Could Lead to Drug Use

July 26, 2006 -- -- A well-meaning parent who asks an adolescent a single question, like "are you using illegal drugs?" may contribute to the use of more drugs, not less, according to a new study that shocked even the researchers.

"It was pretty startling," says Gavan Fitzsimons, associate professor of marketing and psychology at Duke University, one of the authors of a report in the journal Social Influence.

Fitzsimons and several colleagues have been studying the psychology of consumers -- why they buy what they buy -- for years, and they thought they were building on a firm foundation when they recruited 167 undergraduates for an experiment. Their previous research, as well as work by others, seemed to make it clear that if you ask a question involving a positive activity, it will lead to an increase in that activity. Ask a question about a negative activity, like illegal drug use, and it should lead to a decrease in that activity.

Many studies had confirmed that pattern of negative vs positive.

So when Patti Williams of the University of Pennsylvania, Lauren Block of Baruch College in New York, and Fitzsimons set out on their latest project, they weren't expecting any surprises.

The participants in the study were divided into two groups. The students were guaranteed anonymity, and told they were taking part in a national survey of attitudes among college students.

One group was asked a positive question: "How likely are you to exercise in the next two months?"

The other group was asked a question that was expected to be viewed as negative, or perhaps even anti-social: "How likely are you to use any illegal drugs in the next two months?"

Two months later the participants were called back. The students in the exercise group were asked how often they had exercised during the two-month period. The students in the other group were asked how often they had used illegal drugs during the same period.

"We thought those were positive and negative examples of health behavior," Fitzsimons says.