Experiencing fear appeals as a challenge or a threat influences attainment value and academic self-efficacy

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Fear appeals are persuasive messages that highlight the negative consequences of a particular course of action. Studies have shown that attainment value and academic self-efficacy predict how fear appeals are appraised. In this study we examined how the appraisal of fear appeals might also influence subsequent attainment value and academic self-efficacy. Self-report data were collected from 1433 students in their final two years of secondary education over three waves. Findings revealed that when students saw fear appeals as a challenge attainment value and academic self-efficacy were higher. When students saw fear appeals as a threat, attainment value and academic self-efficacy were lower. These results highlight the functional importance of how fear appeals are appraised. Challenge and threat appraisals were not mere by products of attainment value or academic self-efficacy but impacted on attainment value and academic self-efficacy; variables that are likely to make a critical impact on educational progress and attainment. We conclude that initial teacher education and teacher professional development programs would benefit from enhanced interpersonal and relational-skills training to enable teachers to judge more effectively how fear appeals are appraised

Fear appeals used prior to a high-stakes examination: What makes them threatening?

Prior to high-stakes examinations teachers use messages that focus on avoiding failure as a motivational strategy. Such messages, referred to as fear appeals, have been linked with negative outcomes. The strength of that link is determined by whether fear appeals are appraised by students as threatening. The aim of this study was to examine whether the threat appraisal of fear appeals was predicted from frequency of message use, academic self-efficacy and subjective values (intrinsic, attainment and extrinsic). 544 secondary school students clustered in thirty Mathematics classes completed measures of academic self-efficacy, subjective values and fear appeals (both frequency and threat). Fear appeals were appraised as more threatening when students reported lower academic self-efficacy, were in classes where their teacher made more frequent fear appeals concerning the consequences of failure and when the class was composed of students with low intrinsic, but high extrinsic, values. Students differ in the extent to which they appraise fear appeals as threatening. Teachers and instructors would be advised to consider how they convey the importance of high-stakes examinations to students as well as how messages might be received by different students. © 2014

Fear appeals prior to a high-stakes examination can have a positive or negative impact on engagement depending on how the message is appraised

Previous studies have shown that teachers may use messages that focus on the importance of avoiding failure (fear appeals) prior to high-stakes examinations as a motivational tactic. The aim of this study was to examine whether fear appeals, and their appraisal as challenging or threatening, impacted on student engagement. Data were collected from 1373 students, clustered in 46 classes, and 81 teachers responsible for instruction in those classes, prior to a high-stakes mathematics secondary school exit examination. Data were analyzed in a multilevel structural equation model. The appraisal of fear appeals as challenging leads to greater student engagement and as threatening to lower student engagement. The impact of fear appeals on engagement was mediated by challenge and threat appraisals. The effectiveness of fear appeals as a motivational strategy depends on how they are interpreted by students

Consequences of consumer regret with online shopping

Negative online reviews can significantly hurt future sales. After impulsive decisions, consumers may feel regret and write negative online reviews. Two studies are conducted to understand the origin and consequences of negative reviews according to the review content and the responsibility for the mistake in the decision. The first study analyses the influence on the review creation of regret with the process and the outcome through structural equation modelling. For the second study, a 2 × 2 experimental design was conducted. This study analyses how different content in the review (regret with the process vs. regret with the outcome) and guilt of the error (the consumer vs. the seller) affects the perceived persuasiveness, usefulness and credibility of the information, and the intention to follow the advice. The results show that for generating negative reviews, it is the regret with the process coupled with the presence of regret with the outcome which ultimately leads to the intention to write negative reviews. However, the results of the second study show that reviews that criticize the outcome are more damaging than those that criticize the process. Furthermore, reviews that show regret in which the buyer is responsible affect readers more through the greater persuasion they generate

Advice in troubles talk conversations between strangers: the role of problem seriousness and the impact of advice on helper supportiveness and the desire for future interactions

In troubles talk conversations, problems are disclosed and discussed. When responding to problem disclosures, advice is one common response where the respondent recommends how to think, feel or act in response to a problem. This thesis focuses on extending our understanding of advice messages, with a main research question focused on determining if advice occurs in initial interactions between strangers. Through an analysis of 125 transcribed conversations, advice was present in 38.4% (n = 44) of the conversations. Advice was offered in response to less serious problems, supporting the first hypothesis. There was no support found for the positive association between the presence of advice and positive evaluations of helpfulness; additionally, there was no support found for a negative association between the presence of advice and negative evaluations of supportiveness or sensitivity. Finally, no difference was found supporting a decreased desire to interact further with an advice giver. While advice occurs in initial interactions, there may be additional influences beyond the provision of advice messages influencing helper evaluations of supportiveness and the desire for future interactions

FACE THREAT, FACE SUPPORT, AND ADVICE EFFECTIVENESS FOLLOWING INFIDELITY

This study examined advice interactions following infidelity. Participants (N = 213) completed a survey concerning an instance on infidelity and a subsequent advice interaction. Injured party perceptions of advice interactions were measured by examining advice messages, perceived face threat, and perceived face support, in addition to perceived effectiveness of the advice message. Results from this study showed no significant differences in perceived face threat, perceived face support, or advice effectiveness between different advice messages. Results also indicated both positive and negative face threat as negative predictors of advice effectiveness. While negative face support was a positive predictor of advice effectiveness, positive face support was a negative predictor. When controlling for relational closeness, negative face support was the only significant predictor of advice effectiveness

Supernatural friendships: parasocial relationships and the provisions of social support

2021 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Parasocial relationships and social support both have independently rich literatures within the field of communication. However, until this study, parasocial relationship partners had not been considered as social support providers. This study furthers scholarly understandings of both parasocial relationships and social support by considering the two relational phenomena in tandem. Fans of the American television show Supernatural with a strong parasocial relationship with a character from the series were interviewed regarding their feelings towards their parasocial relationship partner and how they feel supported by their parasocial relationship partner. Analysis of the interviews revealed participants received esteem support, informational support, emotional support, and social network support from their parasocial relationship partners. The finding that parasocial relationship partners can and do provide social support challenges current understandings of social support as reciprocal and intentional. Two methods by which participants received support without reciprocity and intentionality are proposed: imagined support and constructed support. Additionally, this study investigated the characteristics of supportive messages. Participants watched scenes from Supernatural and identified qualities that made messages supportive or unsupportive. The data from this study corroborated existing methods of categorizing supportive messages such as verbal person centeredness and nonverbal immediacy. Lastly, this study compared support received while watching troubles talk scenes (scenes in which a problem is discussed) and ordinary conversation scenes (scenes in which anything but a problem is discussed) to compare Goldsmith's Normative Approach to social support and Lakey and Orehek's Relational Regulation Theory. This study offers a new approach to describing parasocial relationships through the lens of social support and extends the relational contexts in which social support can be given and received

Supportiivisen viestinnän merkitys parisuhteen muodostamisvaiheessa

Viestinnän tutkimuksessa on vuosikymmenten ajan tutkittu paljon supportiivista viestintää, jonka tarkoituksena on tarjota verbaalista tai nonverbaalista tukea tuen hakijalle. Sosiaalinen tuki (social support) on tutkimuksen pääkäsite ja supportiivinen viestintä on sosiaalisen tuen viestinnällistä ilmentymistä (Virtanen 2015, 12). Sosiaalista tukea on tarkasteltu paljon psykologian, sosiologian ja viestinnän tieteenaloilla. Viestinnän kentällä sosiaalista tukea on tutkittu erilaisissa vuorovaikutussuhteissa, joita ovat muun muassa perhe-, ystävyys- ja romanttiset suhteet. Tutkimusta on myös siitä, miten sosiaalinen tuki ilmenee teknologiavälitteisesti, erilaisissa ammateissa ja kulttuureissa sekä sukupuolten välillä. Lisäksi tutkijoita on kiinnostanut jo pitkään selkeä yhteys sosiaalisen tuen ja ihmisen fysiologisen ja psykologisen terveyden parantumisen välillä. Vaikka sosiaalisen tuen merkitystä esimerkiksi parisuhteissa onkin tarkasteltu, vähemmän huomiota ovat saaneet parisuhdetta vasta muodostamassa olevat ihmiset. Nämä niin niin sanotussa tapailuvaiheessa olevat henkilöt eivät kuulu sinkkujen eivätkä parisuhteessa elävien ryhmään. Tapailuvaiheella tarkoitetaan sellaista parisuhdetta edeltävää vaihetta, jossa ihmiset ovat ennen varsinaista vakiintunutta parisuhdetta. Tässä tutkielmassa keskityttiin selvittämään sitä, millainen merkitys tapailuvaiheessa tapailukumppanilta saadulta sosiaaliselta tuelta on sen kannalta, päädytäänkö tapailuvaiheesta ”viralliseen” suhteeseen. Tutkimusongelmaa lähestyttiin viiden tutkimuskysymyksen, verkkokyselyn ja kymmenen teemahaastattelun kautta. Haastatteluun osallistui viisi naista ja viisi miestä. Tutkielman tulosten mukaan sosiaalisella tuella on merkitystä sen kannalta, virallistetaanko tapailusuhde. Tulokset osoittavat myös, että sosiaalisen tuen saaminen tapailuvaiheessa oli jonkin verran tärkeämpää naisille. Tuen saamattomuus oli naisten kohdalla myös todennäköisempi tekijä suhteessa tapahtuvan etääntymisen kannalta miehiin verrattuna. Sosiaalisella tuella huomattiin myös olevan yhteyttä siihen, syveneekö tapailusuhde ja miten hyvin tapailusuhteessa voidaan. Vaikka päätulokset kertovat eroista naisten ja miesten välillä, oli loppujen lopuksi molemmille osapuolille supportiivisuuden viestiminen tapailusuhteessa ehdottoman tärkeää

The impacts of recurring supportive interactions on couples’ psychological, relational, and health outcomes in the context of rheumatic diseases

Supportive communication challenges have been well-documented by previous research in the context of chronic illness management. However, few communication studies have examined the dyadic nature of coping with chronic illnesses through social support. Furthermore, scholarship in this area has often privileged social support as prosocial and has been largely atheoretical in nature (Vangelisti, 2009). Thus, the study set out to address these gaps in the literature and was guided by the theory of illness trajectories (Corbin & Strauss, 1985; 1988), face and politeness theories (Brown & Levinson, 1987; Goffman, 1967) and the stress adaptation model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The purpose of the study was to examine the transactional nature of supportive interactions in the context of rheumatic disorders via testing of two structural models. The path analysis explored associations between frequency of support seeking and quality of provision along with both members’ subsequent psychosocial outcomes. Couples (n = 229) individually completed an online survey and were compensated $10 for their participation. Results indicated patients’ support seeking (as perceived by partners) was negatively associated with quality of support provision (as perceived by patients) and positively associated with partners’ caregiver burden and relational satisfaction. Caregiver burden was negatively related to partners’ subjective physical health and positively related to their psychological distress. Finally, quality of support provision was positively associated with patients’ relational satisfaction and subjective physical health. The variables in the first structural model accounted for 18% of patients’ perceptions of their partners’ quality of support provision and 38% of patients’ relational satisfaction, while the variables in the second structural model accounted for 56% of quality of support provision, 53% of partners’ caregiver burden, 29% of partners’ psychological distress, and 21% of partners’ relational satisfaction. Findings from the study lend credibility to enveloping the construct of social support in the theory of illness trajectories as a form of “work” and suggest that partners view support provision as an arduous task in the context of chronic illness management. The results also provide a more nuanced understanding of the costs and rewards of supportive interactions for both patients and their romantic partners.  Communication Studie