Fear can be an effective way to change behavior. One study compared the effects of high-fear and low-fear appeals on changes in attitudes and behaviors related to dental hygiene (卫生). One group of subjects was shown awful pictures of (36)_____ teeth and diseased gums; another group was shown less frightening materials such as plastic teeth, charts, and graphs. Subjects who saw the frightening materials reported more anxiety and a greater (37)_____to change the way they took care of their teeth than the low-fear group did.
But were these reactions actually (38)_____ into better dental hygiene practices? To answer this important question, subjects were called back to the laboratory on two (39)_____ (five days and six weeks after the experiment). They chewed disclosing wafers (牙疾诊断片) that give a red stain to any uncleaned areas of the teeth and thus provided a direct (40)_____ of how well they were really taking care of their teeth. The result showed that the high-fear appeal did actually result in greater and more (41)_____ changes in dental hygiene. That is, the subjects (42)_____ to high-fear warnings brushed their teeth more (43)_____ than did those who saw low-fear warnings.
However, to be an effective persuasive device it is very important that the message not be too frightening and that people be given (44)_____ guidelines to help them to reduce the cause of the fear. If this isn’t done, they may reduce their anxiety by denying the message or the (45)_____ of the communicator. If that happens, it is unlikely that either attitude or behavior change will occur.
