There are many messages that convey important information about potential harm; however, if the . 2020 Jul;39(5):376-379. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2020.1745481. For example. The following study examines social facilitation of eating cues in anti-obesity fear appeals to determine . However, far more research is needed to confirm this finding and to explore other ways in which monitoring and blunting, and indeed other individual differences, suggest implications for fear-based messaging. Further, the threat coverage was frequently sensationalistic, with more than half of stories referring to pandemic, outbreak, or death in ways disproportionate to the actual threat. This is because present-oriented goals are more important than future-oriented, protection-related goals when one perceives her timeline to be limited. fear appeal has been used when the message producer intended to inform the public about the severe consequences that unhealthy behavior or a disease may induce, thus expressing a causal . It presents a risk, presents the vulnerability to the risk, and then may, or may not suggest a form of protective action. This journal article, as well as other journal articles, can be found in scholarly databases available via most university libraries. Fear appeals motivate attitude, intention, and behaviour changesespecially fear appeals accompanied by high-efficacy messages. Currently, scholars are considering how emotions in addition to fear influence the effect of fear appeals (e.g., emotional flow) and possible moderators of fear appeal effects. Specifically, the CFM predicts that an individual experiencing message-relevant fear who is also uncertain as to whether the rest of the message will contain reassuring information (i.e., it may help alleviate fear, but full exposure is necessary to know for sure) would be most likely to carefully process the message. Arne hmans chapter on fear and anxiety in the third edition of the Handbook of Emotions provides a helpful overview of the biological and psychological underpinnings of the study of fear and its influence on cognition and behavior. If the linear fear-persuasion hypothesis supported by the Mongeau (1998) and Witte and Allen (2000) meta-analyses, were the superior model of fear appeal effects, this value would be positive and significant. Although little research speaks to this issue, Williams-Piehota, Pizarro, Schneider, Mowad, and Salovey (2005) found that participants classified as blunters responded with less negative affect to mammography messages that were simple and direct versus lengthy and detailed in their presentation of threat and efficacy information. Throughout the history of the study of fear appeals, any message that evoked negative emotion would often be categorized as a fear appeal. In discussions of fear appeals and fear appeal effects, it is important to draw the distinction between a message componentsomething inherent to the messagethat may result in a fear response, and the experience of fear itself by the message receiver. Nat Med. This paper provides an insight into the use of fear appeals to communicate a public health message. Yet, there is a growing body of literature on the social sharing of emotions that indicates that people have an instinctive need to disclose to others when they experience emotionally charged events, which has been widely documented across cultures, gender, and age groups (Rim, 2009). For example, after viewing fear appeal messages on drinking and driving, some people who drink and drive may respond by claiming that their drinking does not affect their driving skills, and thus the message does not apply to them. They also found that efficacy responses were included in 56% of the stories, but of these, only 23% made statements speaking to the effectiveness of such actions. As health professionals develop health communication for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we implore that these communication approaches do not include fear appeals. Differing motives in a particular situation shapes reactions and perceptions of the experience. The study of fear-based messages has a long and robust history. Although the lions share of research on the persuasive influence of fear focuses on persuasive advertisements, other media messages may be considered as possible conduits of influence via fear arousal. With initial exposure to a fear appeal, recipients engage in a threat appraisal. Fear is the ultimate form of emotional baggage. doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.20.0346. There are multiple explanations for this need to share, including the need to verbalize experiences to help make sense of them, to help validate the self or confirm that people are still themselves despite this event, and to allow groups to develop collective social knowledge of emotional experiences. However, if a person focuses on controlling the emotion of fear, fear control processes are engaged, which ultimately result in maladaptive outcomes, such as avoidance, denial, and reactance. For example. (PDF) How Fear Appeal Approaches in COVID-19 Health - ResearchGate Two decades later, Howard Leventhals work provides helpful summaries of those who came before as well as his own conceptualization of the parallel process model. found that this dynamic approach offered evidence in support of a curvilinear relationship between fear and persuasion. Reviewed by Lybi Ma. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. This deeper processing in the face of uncertainty occurs, according to the CFM, because the audience member is trying to find some piece of information that might satisfy the fear-induced goal of protection. Still, meta-analyses across a range of fear- appeal studies have helped clarify the direction and magnitude of fears influence on persuasive outcomes and associated cognitions. More important, said Albarracin, there was no evidence in the meta-analysis that fear appeals backfired to produce a worse outcome relative to a control group. However, there is mixed evidence as to trait anxietys impact on fear appeal effects. The other two perceptions related to the target behavior: the effectiveness of the target behavior for avoiding the threat (response efficacy) and the ability of the individual to enact the target behavior (self-efficacy). It presents a risk, presents the vulnerability to the risk, and then may, or may not suggest a form of protective action. However, the participants in this high-fear condition were actually less likely than those who saw milder images about tooth decay to improve their brushing and flossing habits in a post-test one week after exposure to the initial fear appeal. 8600 Rockville Pike In place of focusing solely on the persuasive effects of fear, theorizing since the 1990s has shifted to understanding the role of other emotionswhether evoked by messages designed to produce fear or designed to simply be emotionalon persuasive outcomes. Despite multiple theoretical perspectives advanced in the literature, no single model decisively captures the conditions of fear appeal effectiveness. Answer: Fear appeal is simply a message (most commonly found in advertising) which is intended to bring fear to its audience; They either encourage or discourage their audience from participating in a specific behavior. Motivated attention refers to the degree of approach or avoidance response to the message based on the receivers initial emotional response; motivated processing refers to how motivated the message receiver is to process the message carefully; and message expectations pertain to the audiences degree of certainty that the message will offer reassurance or not. As such, message components of fear appeals include threat and efficacy. This body of work suggests that, in general, women report being afraid of more items or events and having more severe fear reactions to frightening items or events than men. For example, if the message is so extreme, instead of being influenced by it, the audience could ignore the information altogether. Symbols such as dying people, coffins, gravestones or skulls may be used. We encourage public health professionals to reevaluate their desire to use fear appeals in COVID-19 health communication and recommend that evidence-based health communication be utilized to address the needs of a specific community, help people understand what they are being asked to do, explain step-by-step how to complete preventative behaviors, and consider external factors needed to support the uptake of behaviors. This research suggests that exposure to health news storiesfear-generating ones in particularcan influence audience health behaviors, but that the traditional fear appeal structure does not always translate to the news context. The link was not copied. The physical experience of fear is generated by an extensive network of fear-related neural structures in the brain, particularly the amygdala (Lang, Davis, & hman, 2000; hman, 2008). There is also the possibility that arousing fear could result in a defensive response or risk denial; particularly, among those who are most susceptible to the threat (Ruiter, Kessels, Peters, & Kok, 2014). Visually, the EPPM is represented as a path model whereby the four message components in the external stimuli (i.e., self-efficacy, response efficacy, susceptibility, and severity) predict their related cognitive perceptions. Which can you control and which can you not? Moreover, it might be best directed toward individuals who are known and for whom the recommendations apply appropriately, rather than an ambiguous population. Recent research, however, is beginning to more carefully consider how the emotions associated with health messages promote information-sharing behaviors. One critique of the general study of fear-based persuasive appeals is that such research is typically studied in the lab rather than in real-world contexts in which message exposure and processing are not controlled and discussion of those messages with friends and family is possible. More than 92 million benzodiazepine prescriptions are yearly dispensed in the US, yet little is known about the experiences of those taking them. At a methodological level, many studies of fear appeals fail to measure the emotion of fear itself as an outcome, instead analyzing only threat and efficacy cognitions. eCollection 2022. Rather, the research on provider communication has focused on how the use of empathic communication by physicians may help reduce existing anxiety in their patients. Are You Sore, Stiff, and Unrested When You Wake Up? It's frequently used in public health campaigns such as anti-smoking, anti-drunk driving, and hypertension awareness campaigns. WASHINGTON Fear-based appeals appear to be effective at influencing attitudes and behaviors, especially among women, according to a comprehensive review of over 50 years of research on the topic, published by the American Psychological Association. Thus, as research on fear appeals moves forward, it is important to give greater consideration not only to how such messages are processed in situ but also how those messages are shared and discussed within social networks, both interpersonally and online. 2023 Feb 7;20(4):2896. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042896. Thus, the model proved unhelpful for both predicting responses to fear appeals as well as to fear appeal message design. a persuasive message that is designed to alter attitudes by producing fear in the recipient. For example, Myrick and Oliver (2015) found that feeling fearful after watching a YouTube public-service announcement about skin cancer was a positive predictor of intentions to share the video with others. Further, individual differences have been considered to determine who is most likely to experience fear during and after message consumption. However, some evidence suggests a more nuanced picture. All close relationships can elicit strong positive and negative emotions the parties have of one another. Shir-Raz Y, Elisha E, Martin B, Ronel N, Guetzkow J. Minerva. eCollection 2022. In this article, we discuss the use of fear appeals during the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential negative sociobehavioral outcomes fear-based messaging may have. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. Ultimately, only 2.5% of stories included all four components associated with fear appeals. Although no new models of fear appeals have specifically been advanced since the EPPM, theorists have considered how a range of emotions, including fear, might generate persuasive effect. Fear. An official website of the United States government. Health persuasion through emoji: How emoji interacted with information source to predict health behaviors in COVID-19 situation. The discussion establishes that fear appeal-based public health messages (i.e. Fear-appeal research has focused almost exclusively on mediated messages. Thus, highlighting both actual risk of health-threatening behavior, especially occasional ones, to enhance perceived severity, as well as boosting self-efficacy to protect oneself from harm, may be particularly important message goals to match the psychological profile of adolescents. messages are often used in political, public health, and advertising campaigns in the hopes of reducing risky attitudes, intentions, or behaviors, their use is often a polarizing issue. However, the resources listed below are helpful places to start exploring these topics as they are addressed in the academic literature. The protection motivation theory is an attitude-based model. However, if the curvilinear hypothesis suggested by the drive model were the best model of fear appeal effects, this value would be negative and significant. Are Scare Tactics Off the Table for Public Health Campaigns Targeting Conversely, the frequent use of fear appeals across a range of issues could possibly result in a chronic sense of heightened anxiety. Health 366 (know these terms) Flashcards | Quizlet Warnings about the unwanted consequences of smoking, texting while driving, and drinking while pregnant can be considered fear appeals. Politics latest updates: Union leader Pat Cullen says nurses are pushed There has been so much written about fear and the role of fear in risk-related messages that one can get easily overwhelmed with the voluminous responses to search queries for the terms. Once a moderate amount of fear is conveyed, there is no further benefit in adding more fear. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Based on the literature and existing theory spanning from children to the elderly, we suggest that though fear-based messages may be useful to address health issues across the lifespan, there are unique challenges to consider for each age group.

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