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

David Putwain, Richard Remedios, Wendy Symes

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)21-28
    Number of pages8
    JournalLearning and Instruction
    Volume40
    Early online date8 Aug 2015
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2015

    Keywords

    • Fear appeals
    • Attainment value
    • Academic self-efficacy
    • High-stakes testing

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