Citation

Morrison K. Health Commun. 2005; 18(3): 237-256.

Affiliation

Department of Communication, Michigan State University, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/s15327027hc1803_3

PMID

16187930

Abstract

This article examines the effectiveness of persuasive fear appeals in motivating women to enroll in self-defense classes to take protective action against rape. Witte's extended parallel process model is used as a framework to examine the relations between perceived invulnerability, perceived fear, and fear control processes. Because women may perceive invulnerability to rape, persuasive fear appeals targeted toward them may be ineffective in achieving attitude, intention, and behavioral change toward protecting themselves. One possible solution is to persuade men to talk with women about whom they care. Results indicated that women did not perceive invulnerability to rape, and although there was no differential impact between high- and low-threat messages, women did report positive intention and behaviors in response to direct fear appeals. Moreover, men reported positive intention and behaviors in response to indirect fear appeals.