Lecture 8 ‘Improving self-regulation: a quick overview’
Hanneke Bos 6167055
One of the ways to improve self-regulation, or foster behavior change, is to use a
fear appeal. Fear appeals aim to change behavior through the motivational phase of
behavior, by changing attitudes towards risk behavior and an intention to comply
with recommendations. Using the variables from ‘Protection Motivation Theory’,
describe how you would develop an effective fear appeal to decrease mobile phone
use in traffic.
Use a maximum of 400 words.
The protection motivation theory states that people will protect themselves based on a number of
factors. Protection motivation is determined by two factors; threat appraisal and coping appraisal.
Threat appraisal is the evaluation people make of the degree to which something is a threat to their
well being. People look at the vulnerability of themselves (using your phone while in traffic causes
accidents) and the severity of it (accidents can be deadly for yourself and others). When these two
factors are high, threat appraisal is high. This is complex because people also experience reward of the
maladaptive response (not missing out of any social media).
Coping appraisal refers to the way someone reacts to the situation. Coping appraisal consists
of two different efficacies. Response efficacy refers to the degree of believing that a certain behavior
will help to eliminate a threat (not using a phone in traffic will prevent the accident). Self efficacy
refers to your own ability to execute or perform the behavior that is needed to eliminate the threat (i
can be in traffic without using my phone). This is complex because people also experience costs of the
adaptive response (missing out of any social media).
When efficacy is high, the coping appraisal is also high. Coping appraisal is a moderator of
threat appraisal. This means that if coping appraisal is low, there will be no threat appraisal, instead
someone will control their emotion and not focus on the actual danger. Having low efficacy will result
in a defensive response and maladaptive behavior.
For the fear appeal to decrease mobile phone use in traffic, the threatening element is a
horrible accident. Vulnerability and severity needs to be high so the relevancy is; using your phone
while being in traffic causes horrible accidents. The severity is; the accident can be deadly for yourself
but also for others. Without recommendations there will be no adaptive response. To neutralize the
threat we state that not using your mobile phone while in traffic prevents the accident you might cause.
For the ease of execution we state that you can use the traffic app (this app prevents you from getting
notifications from your phone).
Hanneke Bos 6167055
One of the ways to improve self-regulation, or foster behavior change, is to use a
fear appeal. Fear appeals aim to change behavior through the motivational phase of
behavior, by changing attitudes towards risk behavior and an intention to comply
with recommendations. Using the variables from ‘Protection Motivation Theory’,
describe how you would develop an effective fear appeal to decrease mobile phone
use in traffic.
Use a maximum of 400 words.
The protection motivation theory states that people will protect themselves based on a number of
factors. Protection motivation is determined by two factors; threat appraisal and coping appraisal.
Threat appraisal is the evaluation people make of the degree to which something is a threat to their
well being. People look at the vulnerability of themselves (using your phone while in traffic causes
accidents) and the severity of it (accidents can be deadly for yourself and others). When these two
factors are high, threat appraisal is high. This is complex because people also experience reward of the
maladaptive response (not missing out of any social media).
Coping appraisal refers to the way someone reacts to the situation. Coping appraisal consists
of two different efficacies. Response efficacy refers to the degree of believing that a certain behavior
will help to eliminate a threat (not using a phone in traffic will prevent the accident). Self efficacy
refers to your own ability to execute or perform the behavior that is needed to eliminate the threat (i
can be in traffic without using my phone). This is complex because people also experience costs of the
adaptive response (missing out of any social media).
When efficacy is high, the coping appraisal is also high. Coping appraisal is a moderator of
threat appraisal. This means that if coping appraisal is low, there will be no threat appraisal, instead
someone will control their emotion and not focus on the actual danger. Having low efficacy will result
in a defensive response and maladaptive behavior.
For the fear appeal to decrease mobile phone use in traffic, the threatening element is a
horrible accident. Vulnerability and severity needs to be high so the relevancy is; using your phone
while being in traffic causes horrible accidents. The severity is; the accident can be deadly for yourself
but also for others. Without recommendations there will be no adaptive response. To neutralize the
threat we state that not using your mobile phone while in traffic prevents the accident you might cause.
For the ease of execution we state that you can use the traffic app (this app prevents you from getting
notifications from your phone).
