There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Understanding communication processes is the goal of most communication researchers. Rarely are we satisfied merely ascertaining whether messages have an effect on some outcome of focus in a specif...

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Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical Mediation Analysis in the New Millennium

The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

Mother Nature knows best--How engineered organizations of the future will resemble natural-born systems.

Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behaviour with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.

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Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response.

The fear appeal literature is diverse and inconsistent Existing fear appeal theories explain the positive linear results occurring in many studies, but are unable to explain the boomerang or curvilinear results occurring in other studies The present work advances a theory integrating previous theoretical perspectives (ie, Janis, 1967; Leventhal, 1970; Rogers, 1975, 1983) that is based on Leventhal's (1970) danger control/fear control framework The proposed fear appeal theory, called the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), expands on previous approaches in three ways: (a) by explaining why fear appeals fail; (b) by re‐incorporating fear as a central variable; and (c) by specifying the relationship between threat and efficacy in propositional forms Specific propositions are given to guide future research

Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model

The fear appeal literature is examined in a comprehensive synthesis using meta-analytical techniques. The meta-analysis suggests that strong fear appeals produce high levels of perceived severity and susceptibility, and are more persuasive than low or weak fear appeals. The results also indicate that fear appeals motivate adaptive danger control actions such as message acceptance and maladaptive fear control actions such as defensive avoidance or reactance. It appears that strong fear appeals and high-efficacy messages produce the greatest behavior change, whereas strong fear appeals with low-efficacy messages produce the greatest levels of defensive responses. Future directions and practical implications are provided.

A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns

Fear appeals have the potential to be potent persuasive strategies. However, they often backfire. Previous research has focused primarily on the factors leading to fear appeal successes and neglected the factors associated with fear appeal failures. Utilizing a recently developed fear appeal theory, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), a study was undertaken to explore the cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying the success and failure of fear appeals in the context of AIDS prevention. The study results offered general support for the EPPM and indicated that (a) the emotion fear is associated with fear control responses and is not directly related to danger control responses, (b) perceptions (or cognitions) about the recommended response are associated with danger control responses and unrelated to fear control responses, and (c) when efficacy beliefs are strong, perceived threat mediates the relationship between the emotion fear and behavior. Overall, it appears that cognitions lead to fear ...

Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM)

The goal of this study was to develop and validate the Risk Behavior Diagnosis (RBD) Scale for use by health care providers and practitioners interested in promoting healthy behaviors. Theoreticall...

Predicting risk behaviors: development and validation of a diagnostic scale.

1. What Are Health Risk Messages? Health Risk Messages Defined What's a Theory? The Components of a Fear Appeal Explicit versus Implicit Messages The Use of Culturally Based Colloquialisms Types of Threats Summary 2. History of Health Risk Messages: Fear Appeal Theories from 1953 to 1991 Fear-as-Acquired Drive Model The Parallel Process Model Protection Motivation Theory Summary Definitions 3. Putting It All Together The Overall Model The Depiction of the Model Comparisons with Other Models Research on the EPPM 4. Useful Concepts from Other Theories The Health Belief Model The Theory of Reasoned Action Social-Cognitive Theory Elaboration Likelihood Model Stages of Change Model Social Marketing Summary 5. Starting Out the Right Way: Formative Research Setting Goals and Objectives: The Campaign Plan Formative Research The Persuasive Health Message (PHM) Framework Putting Transients and Constants Together Gathering Information for the Persuasive Health Message Framework Categorizing Audience Beliefs: A Chart to Guide Message Development Conclusion 6. The Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale The Origin of the RBD Scale Theoretical Basis for Expanding the EPPM The RBD Scale Tailored Health Risk Messages Some Additional Guidelines Conclusion 7. Out of the Tower and Into the Field Using the RBD at a Campus Health Clinic: Background Conclusion 8. Data Collection Types of Evaluation Gathering Data for the Evaluation Data Collection Methods Reliability and Validity Sample Size Summary 9. Data Analysis Analyzing Data Conclusion 10. Getting the Message Out A Plan of Action Message of Dissemination Issues Specific Channels Summary Conclusion Appendix Glossary Worksheets References Suggested Readings Index About the Authors

Kim Witte

Papers

Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model

A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns

Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM)

Predicting risk behaviors: development and validation of a diagnostic scale.

Effective Health Risk Messages: A Step-By-Step Guide