Duke Expert on Psychological Motivation for Using Tanning Beds Despite the Risks
Friday, July 31, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- Earlier this week, cancer experts concluded tanning beds are as deadly as arsenic or mustard gas, and people who begin using the ultraviolet radiation beds before age 30 increase their skin cancer risk by 75 percent.
Mark Leary, Duke professor of psychology and neuroscience and director of Duke’s social psychology program, has studied the motivations of people who tan despite knowing the health risks.
“Our studies found that social motives -- being attractive, making positive impressions and being evaluated favorably -- trumped concerns with health by a large margin,” Leary said. “The most ‘tan-insatiable’ people were those who placed a high value on their appearance and had mild characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorder. These people continued to work on their tans even though they were already as dark as they could ever become.
“In one experiment, we presented young adults with one of two articles warning against excessive tanning. One article described the health risks (cancer), and the other described the appearance risks (premature aging, leathery skin, scarring). The article saying that tanning might make you look bad was significantly more effective in changing attitudes toward tanning than the one warning of skin cancer. In other words, people are more willing to risk their health than their appearance by tanning.”
