Protection Motivation Theory

The threat appraisal process looks at...

...this looks at the severity (how bad will the negative outcome be for me?) and vulnerability (how likely am I to develop the negative outcome?) of the threat.

4 main factors make up protection motivation theory:

1) Severity 2) Vulnerability 3) Response efficacy 4) Self-efficacy Are the four main factors in this theory...

Protection Motivation Theory

a communication theory used to describe why people do or do not respond to fear appeals, looks at the specific underlying cognitive processes that occur when one is exposed to a fear stimulus

Fear appeal

form of public health intervention, used to increase the perceived threat of a negative health outcome in order to convince people to change unhealthy behaviors in order to avoid negative health outcomes

The coping appraisal looks at

looks at the response efficacy (how well does the recommended response prevent the negative outcome?) and self-efficacy (how well can I perform the recommended response?) of the coping method available.

Protection Motivation Theory

proposes that a fear stimulus incites cognitive assessments that then lead to a behavioral change that addresses the fear stimulus. The cognitive assessments are: 1) Threat appraisal - assessment of the threat itself 2) Coping or response appraisal - assessment of available coping mechanisms to respond to the threat

Perceived threat

theoretical construct comprised of perceived severity and susceptibility of an experienced scary stimulus, is the basis of fear appeals

Communication theory

theory used to describe why people make or do not make a certain decision