Mike Allen

A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns

The fear appeal literature is examined in a comprehensive synthesis using meta-analytical techniques. The meta-analysis suggests that strong fear appeals produce high levels of perceived severity and susceptibility, and are more persuasive than low or weak fear appeals. The results also indicate that fear appeals motivate adaptive danger control actions such as message acceptance and maladaptive fear control actions such as defensive avoidance or reactance. It appears that strong fear appeals and high-efficacy messages produce the greatest behavior change, whereas strong fear appeals with low-efficacy messages produce the greatest levels of defensive responses. Future directions and practical implications are provided.

Sex differences in self-disclosure : a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of 205 studies involving 23,702 Ss was conducted to determine whether there are sex differences in self-disclosure. Across these studies, women disclosed slightly more than men (d = .18). This effect size was not homogeneous across studies. Several moderator variables were found. Sex of target and the interaction effect of relationship to target and measure of self-disclosure moderated the effect of sex on self-disclosure. Sex differences in self-disclosure were significantly greater to female and same-sex partners than to opposite-sex or male partners. When the target had a relationship with the discloser (i.e., friend, parent, or spouse), women disclosed more than men regardless of whether self-disclosure was measured by self-report or observation. When the target was a stranger, men reported that they disclosed similarly to women; however, studies using observational measures of self-disclosure found that women disclosed more than men.

Comparing Student Satisfaction with Distance Education to Traditional Classrooms in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis.

Meta-analysis provides a method of quantitatively summarizing and comparing empirical literature to reduce Type I and Type II error. The meta-analysis described here indicates a slight student preference for a traditional educational format over a distance education format (average r = .031, after the deletion of outliers), and little difference in satisfaction levels. A comparison of distance education methods that include direct interactive links with those that do not include interactive links demonstrates no difference in satisfaction levels. However, student satisfaction levels diminish as additional information is added to the available channel of instruction (e.g., written to audio to video). The findings support those of researchers arguing that distance education does not diminish the level of student satisfaction when compared to traditional face-to-face methods of instruction.

The Role of Teacher Immediacy as a Motivational Factor in Student Learning: Using Meta-Analysis to Test a Causal Model

This report uses meta-analysis to derive correlations between the variables of teacher immediacy, cognitive learning, and affective learning. A model was constructed such that the perception of teacher immediacy, a behavior, generates an intermediate outcome of affect, a motivation, which in turn increases cognitive learning outcome. The data across all the included investigations are consistent with that model. The results suggest that high levels of teacher immediacy function as a means of increasing the motivation of a student to learn, and that such motivation increases the cognitive mastery of material.

Comparing the Persuasiveness of Narrative and Statistical Evidence Using Meta-Analysis.

This meta‐analysis compares the persuasiveness of using statistical versus narrative (example) evidence across 15 investigations. The results indicate that when comparing messages, statistical evidence is more persuasive than narrative evidence (r = .101).

Comparing the influence of parents and peers on the choice to use drugs: a meta-analytic summary of the literature

This literature summary, using meta-analysis, compares the influence of parents versus peers on substance use. The data indicated that the average relationship for peer effects on substance use was larger than the effect for parental influence. Several moderating influences (such as youth age and type of substance) are considered. The findings indicate that the relative size of parental and peer influence varies with the age of the adolescent and the type of substance. The results indicate that both parents and peers influence decisions about substance use. Future educational interventions concerning substance use should consider how best to combine these two sources of influence.

Meta‐analysis of self‐report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques

(1989). Meta‐analysis of self‐report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 54-76.

Meta‐analysis comparing the persuasiveness of one‐sided and two‐sided messages

A meta‐analysis comparing the persuasiveness of one‐sided and two‐sided messages was conducted. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model it was hypothesized that audience favorability would moderate the effectiveness of the messages. However, the Discounting Hypothesis predicted increased persuasiveness for the two‐sided message. The analysis indicated the existence of two types of operationalizations for two‐sided messages (refutational and nonrefutational). The results demonstrate that a two‐sided message with refutation is more persuasive than a one‐sided message while a one‐sided message is more persuasive than a two‐sided message without refutation. The findings are inconsistent with the ELM but consistent with the Discounting Hypothesis.

Reconsidering the Organizational Identification Questionnaire.

This study investigates the internal dimensions of the Organizational Identification Questionnaire (OIQ). Results of factorial analytic tests of cross-sectional and longitudinal data indicate that the OIQ is unidimensional across organizations and time, but that only 12 of 25 items contribute meaningfully to the scale. Furthermore, these 12 items essentially constitute an affective measure of organizational commitment, not organizational identification as theorized. A discussion of these results examines the implications of these findings toward the future use of the OIQ scale.

Meta‐analysis of the relationship between communication apprehension and cognitive performance

Although numerous studies have examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and cognitive performance (e.g., IQ grade point averages, course grades, assignment grades, and test scores), the findings are equivocal. One area of findings suggests that students in the traditional educational environment experiencing high CA are at a distinct disadvantage when compared to their low or moderate counterparts. A second area of findings suggests that no significant relationship exists. A third area indicates that the nature of the instructional environment is a significant mediating variable that moderates the effects of CA on cognitive performance. In the present study, a meta‐analysis was conducted of 23 manuscripts containing information on 30 experiments that examined CA and cognitive performance. Results confirmed a statistically significant negative correlation between CA and cognitive performance. Implications for future research and classroom instruction are discussed.