Using a pretest-treatment-multiple posttest design, two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of race of communicator and different levels of fear-arousing dental health appeals on reported anxiety, attitudes, information retention, and behavior change among 304 black, junior high school students. In addition to paper-and-pencil measures, a chemical dye (erythrosin), which stains red the bacteria concentrations on teeth, was used to measure changes of actual toothbrushing behavior. The results of the two studies for behavior change were reasonably consistent. Irrespective of the fear level of the message, the similar communicator produced more immediate behavior change than the dissimilar communicator, and correlations showed that anxiety reports were unrelated to behavior change. Overall, fear communications positively influenced anxiety and attitudes but did not affect behavior. The findings suggest that caution be exercised in using self reports as measures of effectiveness of persuasive communications and additional factors need to be incorporated into existing theories to account for differential reactions to threat appeals.Research has demonstrated that changes in attitudes and behavior are more likely to occur when the source and recipient of a communication are similar rather than dissimilar. Influence has been affected by source-recipient similarity in occupations and life styles (DabbsThe Mazen and Leventhal study was particularly interesting because it was conducted in a natural setting in which source similarity was varied visually and included a measure of an important real-life behavior. The results not only showed that a similar communicator can increase compliance, but also that a boomerang effect can be generated by a dissimilar communicator. Expectant mothers developed significantly more negative attitudes toward breast feeding their children when the communicator was dissimilar in race, and significantly increased actual breast feeding behavior when the communicator was similar in race. Curiously, source similarity affected positive action more than positive attitude change. The effect held whether the communicator personally endorsed the message or presented it as factual information. These results are consistent with recent evidence that suggests the emergence of a more positive self concept among black people (Caplan, 1970;Hall, Cross & Freedle, 1972) and own-group preference among black children, including those living in the deep south (Epstein, Krupat & Obudho, 1975;Gregor & McPherson, 1966;Hraba & Grant, 1970).One aim of the present studies was t o investigate further whether similarity of race of communicator in a natural setting enhances attitudinal and behavioral compliance with the recommendations of a communication. A second aim was to determine whether the effects of the content of a communication can override the impact of communicator-recipient similarity. To accomplish this, black junior high school students in two southern cities were confronted with different level...
This study provides evidence that the community capacity building efforts within these communities have contributed to beneficial changes in interorganizational relationships. Results from this analysis are useful for understanding how a community partnership's efforts to address access to care can strengthen a community's capacity for future action. Increased collaboration also leads to new assets, resources, and the transfer of knowledge and skills.
Many legislators and researchers are proclaiming that parental
involvement assists in student academic achievement. Although the calling
for more parental involvement is evident in literature, there are issues
that need to be addressed within the high school. This study looks at one
high school, and the issues that teachers, parents, and administrators
address while discussing parental involvement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.