Judged effectiveness of threat and coping appraisal anti-speeding messages

Can venting hamper high emotionally intelligent recipient's reattachment to work?

Purpose

This study investigates how healthcare workers' venting - an emotion-focused form of coping during non-working hours - has unintended costs via its effect on spouses' reattachment to work if life partners are dual-earners. Research also examined anxiety as a causal mechanism that connects the receipt of venting with failure in reattachment to work. Lastly, our theory suggests that not everyone has the same experience with venting; the effect varies at different levels of emotional intelligence.

Design/methodology/approach

Multilevel path analysis using MPlus 8.3 was conducted to examine the daily survey data obtained from 101 spouses of healthcare workers over four consecutive workdays using the experience sampling technique.

Findings

The results suggested that receipt of venting increases anxiety and adversely influences reattachment to work through increased anxiety. The findings supported the suggested model's predictions, indicating that anxiety mediated the link between the receipt of venting and reattachment to work, and the mediation was partial. Further, emotional intelligence buffers the positive effect of receipt of venting on anxiety and the negative on reattachment to work. Lastly, the findings indicate that moderated mediation exists: the indirect effect of receipt of venting on reattachment to work is not as strong at higher levels of emotional intelligence.

Originality/value

This study is the first attempt that identified the receipt of venting as a predictor of reattachment to work. Moreover, up till now, no study has examined the mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between receipt of venting and reattachment to work. Finally, this is the preliminary effort that validated the moderating role of emotional intelligence on the above-mentioned links.

Can behavioral interventions be too salient? Evidence from traffic safety messages

Although behavioral interventions are designed to seize attention, little consideration has been given to the costs of doing so. We estimated these costs in the context of a safety campaign that, to encourage safe driving, displays traffic fatality counts on highway dynamic message signs for 1 week each month. We found that crashes increase statewide during campaign weeks, which is inconsistent with any benefits. Furthermore, these effects do not persist beyond campaign weeks. Our results show that behavioral interventions, particularly negatively framed ones, can be too salient, crowding out more important considerations and causing interventions to backfire-with costly consequences.

Targeting Smartphone Use While Driving: Drivers’ Reactions to Different Types of Safety Messages

Only a few previous studies analyzed the effectiveness of road safety messages targeting smartphone use while driving and only several of them used messages from an ongoing road safety campaign. Thus, contributing to the field, this study aimed at testing the effectiveness of two types of social messages (threat appeal and threat appeal together with safe behavior role modelling) targeting smartphone use while driving. Ninety-three drivers were randomly assigned to two experimental (n1 = 26; n2 = 37) and one control (n = 29) groups. Each experimental group was presented with one 30 s length video message to reduce or stop smartphone use while driving. Messages differed in terms of threat appeal and modelling of safe behavior. The control group was presented with a 30 s length video clip showing neutral driving related content. The results revealed that threat appeals (alone or together with a safe role model) resulted in less positive emotions when compared to the control group’s reported emotional reactions. The message with threat appeal only also resulted in more negative emotions compared to the control group. With regards to behavioral intentions, road safety messages used in this study had minor effectiveness: the threat appeal message reduced the intentions to use smartphones while driving, only when previous behavior has been controlled. In sum, messages targeting smartphone use while driving were effective at least to some extent in changing drivers’ emotions and intentions not to be involved in targeted behavior, but the effect was minor and threat appeal only showed higher effectiveness.

Gender differences in the effectiveness of public education messages aimed at smartphone use among young drivers

Objective: The main aim of this survey study was to evaluate the relative persuasiveness of three newly developed and piloted public education messages aimed at monitoring/reading social interactive technology on a smartphone among young male and female drivers. In accordance with the Step Approach to Message Design and Testing, the messages were evaluated on a number of outcome measures and also explored the influence of self-reported involvement in the target behavior.Methods: Participants (N = 152; 105 F) were aged 17 to 25 years (M_age = 20.14 years, SD = 2.35) and were randomly allocated to either an intervention (one of the three messages) or control (no message) condition. The messages in the intervention group were assessed on acceptance (i.e., behavioral intention and message effectiveness), rejection, and the third person effect (TPE) differential score (i.e., the message is perceived to be more effective for others than for themselves).Results: Hierarchical regression analyses found that, compared to males, females reported: a) lower intention to monitor/read social interactive technology on a smartphone while driving, b) lower rejection; and, c) lower TPE likelihood, irrespective of message.Conclusions: These findings suggest that young male drivers and young female drivers require different message content to be effective and support the importance of including multiple outcome measures to explain the messages' persuasive effects.

Rank-ordering anti-speeding messages

PURPOSE

Further explore the utility of protection motivation theory (PMT) in developing effective roadside anti-speeding messages.

METHOD

Via an electronic link, 81 participants holding a current Australian driver's license rated all possible pairs of 18 PMT-derived anti-speeding messages in terms of their perceived effectiveness in reducing speed for themselves, and for drivers in general.

RESULTS

While some messages revealed third-person effects (perceived as being more relevant to drivers-in-general than to self-as-driver), others showed reverse third-person effects (perceived as being more relevant to self-as-driver than to drivers-in-general). Compared with messages based on coping appraisal components, those derived from threat appraisal PMT components (perceived severity, counter-rewards, vulnerability) were rated as being more effective, both for participants themselves as driver, and for drivers-in-general. Compared with females, males reported threat appraisal messages as being more effective for reducing speed in themselves (reverse third-person effect). Aggregate scores for the 18 messages derived from this ipsative methodology correlated modestly with those from a normative study using similarly-worded items.

DISCUSSION

As jurisdictions globally recognize speeding as a major road safety issue, effective anti-speeding campaigns are essential. Findings added to current knowledge of PMT's efficacy as a basis for generating effective anti-speeding messages and indicated areas for future research and application.

Selecting anti-speeding messages for roadside application

PURPOSE

Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to determine the relative effectiveness of theoretically-developed anti-speeding messages, as judged by relatively inexperienced and experienced drivers, both for themselves as a driver, and for drivers in general.

METHOD

Eight focus groups and three individual interviews were conducted. Participants initially completed a questionnaire, ranking sets of three anti-speeding messages representing each of the six components of protection motivation theory (PMT). Participants were encouraged to write down the reasons for their rankings. During group and individual facilitation sessions, the rankings and reasons for them were discussed to identify salient reasons for participants' judgments. The ranking data were analyzed quantitatively, with individual and group-based comments being analyzed thematically.

RESULTS

Quantitative analyses of message pairs revealed five third-person effects (TPEs). Three messages were perceived as more relevant to drivers in general than to the participant-as-driver while two were associated with reverse TPEs, which participants perceived as more relevant to themselves-as-driver than for drivers in general. For four PMT components (rewards, self-efficacy, response efficacy, response costs), one or more messages received significantly higher rankings than one or more other messages representing the same component. Substantial variation was found within the individual and group discussion comments in respect of nearly all the messages, reflecting different driver perspectives and demographics.

DISCUSSION

A general preference for shorter messages was evident, leading to a revision of most of the messages comprising the stimuli for this study. On the basis of the focus group and interview responses, consideration was given as to which messages would be recommended for a pilot field study.