Some Effects of Fear-Arousing Communications on Preventive Health Behavior

In one of the first studies on the effectiveness of fear-arousing communi-cations as a means to induce preventive health behavior, Janis and Feshbachl found an inverse relationship between the level of threatening material used and positive attitude change toward the recommended behavior. The find-ings of later studies concerning attitudes toward nuclear test bans: dental health procedures,3 the purchase of automobile seat belts, * and the cessation of smokingY6t6 generally support the existence of this relationship. The study by Leventhal and K a f e ~ , ~ however, found a positive relationship between the length of exposure to a fear-evoking movie on smoking and lung cancer and the wish to obtain and the subsequent obtaining of a chest X-ray. While this relationship was not statistically reliable, it was inconsistent with the same subjects ’ expressed desire to stop smoking and the findings of previous investigators. The authors speculate that the different types of actions recommended (to obtain an X-ray and to stop smoking) may have been responsible for the response discrepancy. They conclude that “when