Self- and Response Efficacy Information in Fear Appeals: A Meta-Analysis

Fear appeals are designed to inspire intended and actual actions to avert a danger. Although prior meta-analyses report that the average effect of fear appeals is moderately positive, the role of efficacy information is not completely understood. Prior work and fear appeal theories have argued that the presence of both response and self-efficacy information improves fear appeal success but the individual impacts of each have not been properly estimated. A meta-analysis (k = 158, N = 19,736) was conducted to examine the individual and combined effects of response and self-efficacy information contained in fear appeals on behavioral intentions and behaviors. Estimating the impact of fear appeals relative to low and no fear controls, the meta-analysis showed that fear appeals had a stronger influence on behavioral outcomes when they included positive response efficacy information but did not vary as a function of including self-efficacy information or negative response efficacy information.

Response Efficacy in Environmental Discounting: Concern and Action towards Climate Change Threats

Extending preceding environmental discounting studies, we examined the role of response efficacy (in low, control, and high conditions) in participants’ valuation of climate-change concern and action across four psychological distance dimensions (temporal, spatial, social, and probabilistic). Participants gave ratings of concern and action in the context of two hypothetical scenarios which were directly related to two different threats (droughts and floods) posed by unmitigated climate change. Rachlin’s hyperboloid discount functions fit the data well. The previously observed gap between concern and action ratings was not replicated in the main analyses, but was seen in the ratings at the minimum distance values. Response efficacy differentially affected ratings of concern and action at the minimum distance values for the temporal, social, and probabilistic dimensions, but differentially affected discount values (k) only for the probabilistic dimension. Compared to their level of concern with the environmental threat, participants who were led to believe that their actions were not efficacious were less willing to engage in mitigation behaviors than participants who were led to believe that their actions were efficacious. The insights gained through the current research effort may be valuable for policymaking as well as intervention design aiming to increase societal mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Response Efficacy and Action to Prepare for Disasters With Different Lead Time: Age Differences

This study investigated how disaster types, namely those with short and longer warning lead time, contextualized individuals’ preparatory action, especially as associated with their response efficacy and age. The working sample included 1,467 respondents from the 2017 U.S. National Household Survey. Logistic regressions showed that individuals with higher levels of response efficacy were more likely to prepare after learning information about how to prepare. Respondents in areas prone to short lead-time disasters were less likely to prepare than those in longer lead-time disasters areas. Response efficacy was more important for action taking for short lead-time disasters, which was observed only among older adults when older and younger adults were examined separately. These findings revealed the impacts of disaster types and response efficacy on disaster preparedness and older adults’ unique vulnerability and resilience, which could guide policymaking and interventions to promote national disaster preparedness tailored to regional peculiarities.

Using Protection Motivation Theory to Predict Intentions for Breast Cancer Risk Management: Intervention Mechanisms from a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of a web-based, Protection Motivation Theory (PMT)–informed breast cancer education and decision support tool on intentions for risk-reducing medication and breast MRI among high-risk women. Women with ≥ 1.67% 5-year breast cancer risk (N = 995) were randomized to (1) control or (2) the PMT-informed intervention. Six weeks post-intervention, 924 (93% retention) self-reported PMT constructs and behavioral intentions. Bootstrapped mediations evaluated the direct effect of the intervention on behavioral intentions and the mediating role of PMT constructs. There was no direct intervention effect on intentions for risk-reducing medication or MRI (p’s ≥ 0.12). There were significant indirect effects on risk-reducing medication intentions via perceived risk, self-efficacy, and response efficacy, and on MRI intentions via perceived risk and response efficacy (p’s ≤ 0.04). The PMT-informed intervention effected behavioral intentions via perceived breast cancer risk, self-efficacy, and response efficacy. Future research should extend these findings from intentions to behavior. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03029286 (date of registration: January 24, 2017).

Access To WASH, Knowledge, Practice, and Protective Motivation Behaviour Towards COVID-19 Pandemic of Urban Marginalized Peoples

Background Urban marginalized people are most vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic because of their poor water and hygiene conditions and high-density populated environment. However, there lack WASH facilities and theory-guided behavioural health intervention programs towards the Covid-19 pandemic in these fragile communities. Methods This study used the combined Knowledge- Practice -Theory (KAP) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to predict the protective motivation behaviours of urban marginalized people against Covid-19. The phenomenological approach was applied to examine the slum communities' lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected through 105 semi-structured interviews and 453 questionnaires in two slum communities in Bangkok, Thailand. Results Results showed that most Thai slum people tended to have better access WASH and healthcare services and protection behaviours towards Covid-19 than other foreign migrant slum people. Structural Equation Modelling results illustrated that knowledge directly drove marginalized peoples’ perceived vulnerability and practices, while practices influenced their perceived severity, self, and response efficacy which directly associated with their behavioural intentions. Conclusions Future pandemic prevention intervention programs should focus on vulnerability and severity through providing adequate WASH facilities and self-efficacy and response efficacy of protection motivation through enhancing community sensitization and awareness of COVID-19 protection.

To strike or not to strike? an investigation of the determinants of strike participation at the Fridays for Future climate strikes in Switzerland

The Fridays for Future strikes involve students striking for increased action on climate change, and this movement has spread to 185 countries and received widespread media attention. This exploratory study investigates motives for participating or not in the climate strikes and future participation among students in Switzerland. In a sample of N = 638 university students, we found that trust in climate scientists, low trust in governments, response efficacy, protest enjoyment and the perceived success of the strikes predicted participation. Contrary to statements in the public media but consistent with the literature, students who participated in the climate strikes reported consuming less meat, flying less and taking more steps to compensate the CO2 emissions from flights compared to students who did not participate. We discuss how the insights from this study help reveal the determinants of youth collective action on climate change.

Tornado Warning Guidance and Graphics: Implications of the Inclusion of Protective Action Information on Perceptions and Efficacy

Effective warning messages should tell people what they should do, how they should do it, and how to maximize their health and safety. Guidance essentially delivers two types of information: 1) information that instructs people about the actions to take in response to a threat, and 2) information about how and why these recommended protective actions will reduce harm. However, recent research reported that while automated tornado warnings, sent by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center via the account @NWStornado on Twitter, included useful information about the location of the threat, the potential impacts, and populations at risk, it failed to provide content that would contribute to successful protective actions. In this experimental study we investigate how the inclusion and presentation of protective action guidance affects participant perceptions of a tornado warning message and their perceived ability to act upon the information (i.e., self- and response-efficacy). We find that the inclusion of protective action guidance results an increase in the participants’ understanding of the message, their ability to decide what to do, and their perceived self- and response-efficacy. Knowing how to take action to protect oneself, and believing the actions will make oneself safe, are key motivators to taking action when faced with a significant threat. Future warning research should draw from other persuasive messaging and health behavior theories, and should include self- and response- efficacy as important causal factors. It should also look across additional hazards to determine if these outcomes differ by the length of forewarning and hazard type.