Messenger Acceptability for Suicide Means Safety Messages for Firearm Owners: Effects of Perceived Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Ideological Similarity.

Means safety, the process by which an individual's endorsed or expected method of suicide is made less available, is a widely used suicide prevention method. For firearm owners, this process involves delivering a means safety message, the acceptability of which may be influenced by the identity of the messenger. Previous research has indicated that the perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and ideological similarity of a messenger can influence the overall acceptability of a message, though to date there has not been research examining these constructs with regard to means safety messages for firearm suicide prevention. This study tested four hypotheses: (1) perceived expertise, (2) perceived trustworthiness, and (3) perceived ideological similarity would have a significant positive relationship with messenger acceptability; and (4) messenger categories (e.g., law enforcement personnel, friends and family, military veterans, etc.,) would have differing levels of perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and ideological similarity. Seven hundred and twenty-five participants were recruited from social media groups for firearm owners and asked to answer a series of randomized questionnaires designed to assess their opinions related to the perceived expertise, trustworthiness, ideological similarity, and overall messenger acceptability of various firearm means safety messengers, among other measures. All hypotheses were supported. The perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and ideological similarity of a messenger was related to the overall acceptability of said messengers, and the relationships between these variables differed based on the messenger category being assessed. These results carry important implications for suicide prevention messaging for firearm owners.