The DOI matches its Crossref record; 98 of the 98 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model
Abstract
The fear appeal literature is diverse and inconsistent. Existing fear appeal theories explain the positive linear results occurring in many studies, but are unable to explain the boomerang or curvilinear results occurring in other studies. The present work advances a theory integrating previous theoretical perspectives (i.e., Janis, 1967; Leventhal, 1970; Rogers, 1975, 1983) that is based on Leventhal's (1970) danger control/fear control framework. The proposed fear appeal theory, called the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), expands on previous approaches in three ways: (a) by explaining why fear appeals fail; (b) by re‐incorporating fear as a central variable; and (c) by specifying the relationship between threat and efficacy in propositional forms. Specific propositions are given to guide future research.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The time-honored study of fear appeals has been influentially guided by Witte's (1992) venerable Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), which emphasizes the role of interactions of threat and efficacy in triggering danger control (the healthful process) and fear control (the more defensive, less adaptive process).”
From An Integrative Terror Management Theory Perspective on Media Effects: A Model and 12 Hypotheses for Research (2016) · cites this paper as Witte's (1992)
In the citing paper
“Additional items were developed based on key constructs from theoretical frameworks such as the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) (Witte, 1992) and the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) (Lindell & Perry, 2012).”
From Assessing earthquake preparedness in a culturally diverse international students population: a case of Ehime university in Shikoku, Japan (2025) · cites this paper as Witte, 1992
In the citing paper
“This dual nature suggests anxiety’s effects depend on intensity levels and individual psychological resources such as self-efficacy [28].”
From The power of loss: message framing, climate anxiety, and engagement in personal carbon trading (2025) · cites this paper as [28]
In the citing paper
“existing literature suggests that anxiety may exhibit an inverted-U relationship with behavioral outcomes [28].”
From The power of loss: message framing, climate anxiety, and engagement in personal carbon trading (2025) · cites this paper as [28]
In the citing paper
“which later influence intentions and ultimately behaviour.”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“The framework suggests that the characteristics of a warning affect the extent to which the warning will be noticed and later recalled”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“Warning reactions are thought to, in turn, affect attitudes/beliefs”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“and that attention to (and recall of) the warning influences warning reactions.”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“However, fear appeal theories, such as the extended parallel process model (EPPM),52 also suggest that two key constructs help explain how people respond to fear appeals—perceived threat and efficacy.”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
In the citing paper
“It was surprising that only five studies (with 8 effect sizes) in the meta-analysis assessed perceived likelihood of harm, a component of perceived threat, when much theorising situates this as a central construct in fear appeals and risk communication.52 88 89”
From Pictorial cigarette pack warnings: a meta-analysis of experimental studies (2016) · cites this paper as [52]
Citations
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532
Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change
Bandura, A. (1977) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.84.2.191 · Cited by 43,925
Eysenck, H. J. (1985) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(85)90087-7 · Cited by 32,038
“Stress: appraisal and coping,”
Folkman, S. (2013) · Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_215 · Cited by 27,833
Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
(2022) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(22)x0002-6 · Cited by 22,559
Lazarus, R. S. (1991) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195069945.001.0001 · Cited by 12,691
The Handbook of Social Psychology
Gravatt, A. E., Lindzey, G. E., & Aronson, F. (1969) · The Family Coordinator · doi:10.2307/582242 · Cited by 12,518
The Health Belief Model: a decade later.
Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984) · Health Education Quarterly · doi:10.1177/109019818401100101 · Cited by 8,437
Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences.
Zajonc, R. B. (1980) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.35.2.151 · Cited by 8,094
DeLamater, J., & Ward, A. (2013) · Handbooks of sociology and social research · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0 · Cited by 7,587
A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1
Rogers, R. W. (1975) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.1975.9915803 · Cited by 6,805
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1 · Cited by 5,219
Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change
Marquart, F., & Naderer, B. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-09923-7_20 · Cited by 5,011
Handbook of Personality : Theory and Research
Pervin, L. A. (1992) · Cited by 4,543
Decision making: A psychological analysis of conflict, choice, and commitment
(1978) · Evaluation and Program Planning · doi:10.1016/0149-7189(78)90042-3 · Cited by 3,956
The Health Belief Model and Preventive Health Behavior
Rosenstock, I. M. (1974) · Health Education Monographs · doi:10.1177/109019817400200405 · Cited by 3,643
Progress on a cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion
Lazarus, R. S. (1991) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.46.8.819 · Cited by 3,272
Rogers, R. W., & Rogers, R. W. (1983) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 2,577
Process Analysis: Estimating Mediation in Treatment Evaluations
Judd, C. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1981) · Evaluation Review · doi:10.1177/0193841x8100500502 · Cited by 2,442
Protection motivation and self-efficacy: A revised theory of fear appeals and attitude change
Maddux, J. E., & Rogers, R. W. (1983) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-1031(83)90023-9 · Cited by 2,342
(2017) · doi:10.5040/9798400682018.ch-003 · Cited by 2,248
Lumsdaine, A. A. (1954) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/bf02713272 · Cited by 2,237
Handbook of Personality Theory and Research.
Schwartz, M. L., Borgatta, E. F., & Lambert, W. W. (1970) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2093310 · Cited by 2,182
Cognition and motivation in emotion.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.46.4.352 · Cited by 2,096
What's basic about basic emotions?
Ortony, A., & Turner, T. J. (1990) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.97.3.315 · Cited by 2,015
Zajonc, R. B. (1984) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.39.2.117 · Cited by 1,937
Persuasion theory and research
O’Keefe, D. J. (1990) · Cited by 1,555
Emotions, cognition, and behavior
Izard, C. E., Kagan, J., & Zajonc, R. B. (1984) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Cited by 1,347
Findings and Theory in the Study of Fear Communications
Leventhal, H. (1970) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60091-x · Cited by 1,339
Effects of involvement on persuasion: A meta-analysis.
Johnson, B. T., & Eagly, A. H. (1989) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.2.290 · Cited by 986
Conditional automaticity: Varieties of automatic influence in social perception and cognition.
Bargh, J. A. (1989) · Cited by 975
Effects of fear-arousing communications.
Janis, I. L., & Feshbach, S. (1953) · Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0060732 · Cited by 918
(1955) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1955.tb38334.x · Cited by 891
Buck, R. W. (1984) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 874
Affect, Cognition and Social Behavior
Chakravarti, D., Fiedler, K., Forgas, J. P., & Claxton, G. L. (1991) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.2307/3172815 · Cited by 813
Edwards, W. (1961) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.12.020161.002353 · Cited by 796
Rippetoe, P. A., & Rogers, R. W. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.52.3.596 · Cited by 713
Protection Motivation Theory and preventive health: beyond the Health Belief Model
Prentice‐Dunn, S., & Rogers, R. W. (1986) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/1.3.153 · Cited by 713
Rippetoe, P. A., & Rogers, R. W. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.3.596 · Cited by 713
Handbook of Language and Social Psychology
Myers‐Scotton, C., Giles, H., & Robinson, W. P. (1992) · Language · doi:10.2307/416867 · Cited by 672
A new look at the new look: Perceptual defense and vigilance.
Erdelyi, M. H. (1974) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0035852 · Cited by 647
Effects of Fear Arousal on Attitude Change: Recent Developments in Theory and Experimental Research
Janis, I. L. (1967) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60344-5 · Cited by 493
Rogers, R. W., & Mewborn, C. (1976) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.34.1.54 · Cited by 456
Persuasion: Theory and Research
Metallinos, N. (1991) · doi:10.22230/cjc.1991v16n3a630 · Cited by 377
Social psychology and behavioral medicine
DiMatteo, M. R. (1983) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/0277-9536(83)90084-9 · Cited by 359
Handbook of Language and Social Psychology
Schönbach, P. (1992) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1992.tb00962.x · Cited by 324
Rogers, R. W., & Mewborn, C. R. (1976) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.34.1.54 · Cited by 322
(2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203856246 · Cited by 311
Cognition in emotion: Concept and action.
Lang, P. J. (1985) · Cited by 305
The Impact of Communications on the Self-Regulation of Health Beliefs, Decisions, and Behavior
Leventhal, H., Safer, M. A., & Panagis, D. M. (1983) · Health Education Quarterly · doi:10.1177/109019818301000101 · Cited by 299
The Health Belief Model and preventive health health behavior
Rosenstock, I. M. (1974) · Health Education Monographs · Cited by 297
Fifteen years of fear arousal: Research on threat appeals: 1953-1968.
Higbee, K. L. (1969) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/h0028430 · Cited by 294
Fear appeals and persuasion: the differentiation of a motivational construct.
Leventhal, H. (1971) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.61.6.1208 · Cited by 278
Fear-Arousing Persuasive Messages
Boster, F. J., & Mongeau, P. (1984) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.1984.11678581 · Cited by 271
Effective and ineffective use of fear in health promotion campaigns.
Job, R. F. S. (1988) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.78.2.163 · Cited by 267
Mulilis, J., & Lippa, R. A. (1990) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1990.tb00429.x · Cited by 247
Wurtele, S. K., & Maddux, J. E. (1987) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.6.5.453 · Cited by 238
Recent Advances in Language, Communication, and Social Psychology
(2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429436178 · Cited by 213
Sources of resistance to fear-arousing communications on smoking and lung cancer1
Leventhal, H., & Watts, J. C. (1966) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1966.tb01706.x · Cited by 213
Contribution of concrete cognition to emotion: Neutral symptoms as elicitors of worry about cancer.
Easterling, D. V., & Leventhal, H. (1989) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.74.5.787 · Cited by 206
A Conceptualization of Threat Communications and Protective Health Behavior
Beck, K. H., & Frankel, A. (1981) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3033834 · Cited by 181
Attitude Change and Information Integration in Fear Appeals
Rogers, R. W. (1985) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.1985.56.1.179 · Cited by 174
Social psychology and behavioral medicine
Eiser, J. R. (1982) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 170
Effects of varying the recommendations in a fear-arousing communication.
Dabbs, J. M., & Leventhal, H. (1966) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0021190 · Cited by 157
The relationship between coping and avoiding behavior and response to fear-arousing propaganda.
Goldstein, M. J. (1959) · Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0044492 · Cited by 147
Cacioppo, J. T., Berntson, G. G., & Aue, T. (2010) · The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology · doi:10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0897 · Cited by 144
The Effects of Health Threat Seriousness and Personal Efficacy upon Intentions and Behavior1
Beck, K. H., & Lund, A. K. (1981) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1981.tb00832.x · Cited by 141
The Role of Threat and Efficacy in AIDS Prevention
Witte, K. (1991) · International Quarterly of Community Health Education · doi:10.2190/u43p-9qlx-hj5p-u2j5 · Cited by 139
The effect of fear-arousing communications on cigarette smoking: An expectancy-value approach
Sutton, S. R., & Eiser, J. R. (1984) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00845345 · Cited by 138
Personality Differences Associated with Responsiveness to Fear-Arousing Communications1
JANIS, I. L., & FESHBACH, S. (1954) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1954.tb01145.x · Cited by 126
Mewborn, C. R., & Rogers, R. W. (1979) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-1031(79)90035-0 · Cited by 118
Effects of fear appeals and physiological arousal upon emotion, attitudes, and cigarette smoking.
Rogers, R. W., & Deckner, C. W. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.32.2.222 · Cited by 108
Effects of fear appeals and physiological arousal upon emotion, attitudes, and cigarette smoking.
Rogers, R. W., & Deckner, C. W. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.32.2.222 · Cited by 105
Effects of high and low fear-arousing communications upon opinions toward smoking
Insko, C. A., Arkoff, A., & Insko, V. M. (1965) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/0022-1031(65)90030-2 · Cited by 91
Source credibility and response to fear‐arousing communications
Hewgill, M. A., & Miller, G. R. (1965) · Speech Monographs · doi:10.1080/03637756509375436 · Cited by 77
Identifying effective components of alcohol misuse prevention programs.
Kleinot, M. C., & Rogers, R. W. (1982) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol · doi:10.15288/jsa.1982.43.802 · Cited by 75
Fear Appeal Effects in the Field: A Segmentation Approach
Burnett, J. J., & Oliver, R. L. (1979) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1177/002224377901600203 · Cited by 74
Stainback, R. D., & Rogers, R. W. (1983) · International Journal of the Addictions · doi:10.3109/10826088309039356 · Cited by 73
Protection Motivation Theory: Prediction of Intentions to Engage in Anti‐Nuclear War Behaviors1
Wolf, S., Gregory, W. L., & Stephan, W. G. (1986) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01143.x · Cited by 70
Ineffectiveness of threat appeals about drinking and driving
Kohn, P. M., Goodstadt, M. S., Cook, G. M., Sheppard, M. A., & Chan, G. (1982) · Accident Analysis & Prevention · doi:10.1016/0001-4575(82)90059-8 · Cited by 68
Some recent research on fear‐arousing message appeals
Miller, G. R., & Hewgill, M. A. (1966) · Speech Monographs · doi:10.1080/03637756609375505 · Cited by 66
Krisher, H. P., Darley, S. A., & Darley, J. M. (1973) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0034465 · Cited by 61
Negative emotions and persuasion1
Leventhal, H., & Trembly, G. (1968) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1968.tb01466.x · Cited by 55
Self, C. A., & Rogers, R. W. (1990) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00844883 · Cited by 50
Beck, K. H. (1984) · Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal · doi:10.2224/sbp.1984.12.2.121 · Cited by 49
The Role of Esteem and Coping in Response to a Threat Communication.
Rosen, T., Terry, N. S., & Leventhal, H. (1982) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/0092-6566(82)90043-5 · Cited by 41
Studies on the use of fear appeals: A summary and analysis
Miller, G. R. (1963) · Central States Speech Journal · doi:10.1080/10510976309362689 · Cited by 37
Fear Appeal Effects in the Field: A Segmentation Approach
Burnett, J. J., & Oliver, R. L. (1979) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.2307/3150682 · Cited by 33
Understanding Seat‐Belt Intentions and Behavior: A Decision‐Making Approach1
Sutton, S. R., & Hallett, R. (1989) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1989.tb01252.x · Cited by 31
Ethnicity of Communicator, Self-Esteem, and Reactions to Fear-Arousing Communications
Ramírez, A., & Lasater, T. M. (1977) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224545.1977.9713243 · Cited by 30
Internal–external locus of control as a moderator of fear appeals.
Burnett, J. J. (1981) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.66.3.390 · Cited by 24
Repression-sensitization and yielding to threatening health communications
Hill, D. J., & Gardner, G. (1980) · Australian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00049538008254688 · Cited by 23
Effects of false positive and negative arousal feedback on persuasion.
Giesen, M., & Hendrick, C. (1974) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0037032 · Cited by 20
Repression-Sensitization, Perceived Vulnerability, and the Fear Appeal Communication
Dziokonski, W., & Weber, S. J. (1977) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224545.1977.9713245 · Cited by 20
Attitudinal and Behavioral Reactions to Fear-Arousing Communications
Ramírez, A., & Lasater, T. M. (1976) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.1976.38.3.811 · Cited by 16
Hendrick, C., Giesen, M., & Borden, R. J. (1975) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1975.tb00702.x · Cited by 16
Latent fear-arousing potential of fear-moderating and fear-neutral health promoting information
Ben‐Sira, Z. (1981) · Social Science & Medicine Part E Medical Psychology · doi:10.1016/0271-5384(81)90030-2 · Cited by 12
Detecting and assessing statistical interactions with multiple regression
Levine, T., & Cruz, M. (1991) · Communication Research Reports · doi:10.1080/08824099109359872 · Cited by 8
Research works printed but not linked: 11
- Bargh J.A., 1989, Unintended thought, 3
- Boster F.J., 1984, Communication yearbook, 8, 330
- Brehm J.W., 1966, A theory of reactance
- Dillard J.P., 1992, Rethinking the study of fear appeals
- Gleitman H., 1981, Psychology
- Kornzweig N.D., 1967, Behavior change as a function of fear arousal and personality
- Langer E.J., 1989, Mindfulness
- Leventhal H., 1965, "Tetanus” messages
- Levine T., Communication Research Reports
- Niles P., 1964, The relationship of susceptibility and anxiety to acceptance of fear‐arousing communications
- Witte K., 1991, Preventing AIDS through persuasive communications: Fear appeals and preventive‐action efficacy
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns
Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000) · Health Education & Behavior · doi:10.1177/109019810002700506 · Cited by 3,216
Webb, T. L., Joseph, J., Yardley, L., & Michie, S. (2010) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1376 · Cited by 2,517
Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G. B., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., McCaul, K. D., & Weinstein, N. D. (2007) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.2.136 · Cited by 2,046
A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Health Belief Model Variables in Predicting Behavior
Carpenter, C. J. (2010) · Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10410236.2010.521906 · Cited by 1,604
Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM)
Witte, K. (1994) · Communication Monographs · doi:10.1080/03637759409376328 · Cited by 1,528
Metadata
- Authors
- Witte, K.
- Affiliations
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Witte, Kim
- Venue
- Communication Monographs
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1992-12
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 329-349
- ISSN
- 0363-7751 (ISSN-L)
- 1479-5787
- OpenAlex
- W2017785078
- Cited by
- 3,880
- References
- 95
- Citations by year
- 2026: 249 · 2025: 250 · 2024: 268 · 2023: 258 · 2022: 296 · 2021: 363 · 2020: 254 · 2019: 183 · 2018: 193 · 2017: 176 · 2016: 156 · 2015: 168 · 2014: 160 · 2013: 146 · 2012: 91
- FWCI
- 11.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Communication Monographs (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- fear appeals, Extended Parallel Process Model, fear control, boomerang effect, curvilinear effects, persuasion theory, health communication
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
