Fear Appeals in the College Classroom: Does Perception Match Reality?

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Division C Section 2a Poster Session 2: Motivational and Affective Processes

Abstract

Fear appeals refer to messages teachers use with students about the consequences of performing poorly on important academic tasks, such as high-stakes exams (Putwain & Symes, 2011). Most research examining fear appeals has relied on student self-reports of teacher behavior. In the present study we compared student perceptions of teachers’ use of fear appeals with recordings of actual teacher talk while teaching these students. Results indicate teachers made almost no fear appeals, and that student perceptions of teacher fear appeals were associated with their own anxiety, self-efficacy, and performance in the course. Implications for future research on fear appeals, particularly the need to separate teacher behavior from student perceptions of teacher behavior, are discussed.

Authors

• Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University

• Richard Remedios, Northcentral University

• Caitlin Courshon, Santa Clara University

• Lillian Nguyen