Future-oriented thinking promotes positive attitudes toward the "Help Mark" in Japan.
Hirofumi Hashimoto, Kaede Maeda, Kosuke Sato
PMID 36466940WHAT IT FOUND
Messages framing the 'Help Mark' badge as future insurance for everyone increased positive attitudes and reduced reluctance in students.
A poster using this framing raised positive perception among those who saw it, but did not change reluctance.
Key findings
01Students reading a description that the Help Mark is for everyone, not just those needing help, reported higher positive perception and lower reluctance than those reading standard or present-focused descriptions.
02In a field observation, students who reported seeing a poster with the future-oriented message showed a significant increase in positive perception scores over one month compared to those who did not see it.
03The field observation found no significant change in reluctance scores among students who saw the poster.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample consisted entirely of young female Japanese university students, which limits generalizability to the broader population or other cultures. Study 2 was an observational field study, not a randomized experiment, so causality between the poster and attitude changes cannot be definitively established. The scales used to measure positive perception and reluctance were preliminary and not fully validated. The study did not examine the perspectives of people who wear the Help Mark, focusing only on potential helpers.
Declared interests
Study 2 was conducted as part of a collaborative project with Hiroshima Rapid Transit Co., Ltd., which operates the Astram Line in Hiroshima. The posters created for the study were actually used for public awareness by the company.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these attitude changes will translate into actual helping behavior or increased badge usage in real-world settings. The study measured self-reported perceptions in a student sample, not observed interactions with people wearing the badge.