Fear Appeals: What Are They and What Happens When Educators Use Them?

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Fear Appeals are motivational messages used by teachers to highlight the negative consequences of failure e.g. If you do not work hard, you will not get the grades you need to get to college. Evidence suggests that using Fear Appeals largely undermines motivation, performance and creates anxiety. However, certain student characteristics can buffer the negative effects of Fear Appeals and for some students, Fear Appeal messages can lead to positive outcomes. In this symposium, we will outline early work in the field of Fear Appeals in Education, discuss specific studies that help us understand the effects of fear appeals on motivation and performance; look at individual differences, and finally suggest some of the implications of the findings for practice.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction / Division C - Section 3a: Learning Environments

Chair

• Richard Remedios, Northcentral University

Papers

• What Are Fear Appeals? - Dave Putwain, Edge Hill University; Richard Remedios, Northcentral University

• The Negative Consequences of Fear Appeals - Richard Remedios, Northcentral University; Dave Putwain, Edge Hill University

• The Positive Consequences of Fear Appeals - Nathaniel Paul von der Embse, Temple University

• Why Do Some Educators Use Fear Appeals? - Wendy Symes, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Dave Putwain, Edge Hill University

• What Should Educators Do? - Dave Putwain, Edge Hill University

Discussant

• Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University