Re-thinking anxiety: using inoculation messages to reduce and reinterpret public speaking fears

Jackson, Ben, Compton, Josh, Thornton, Ashleigh L., and Dimmock, James A. (2017) Re-thinking anxiety: using inoculation messages to reduce and reinterpret public speaking fears. PLoS ONE, 12 (1). e0169972.

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Abstract

Inoculation theory offers a framework for protecting individuals against challenges to an existing attitude, belief, or state. Despite the prevalence and damaging effects of public speaking anxiety, inoculation strategies have yet to be used to help individuals remain calm before and during public speaking. We aimed to test the effectiveness of an inoculation message for reducing the onset of public speaking anxiety, and helping presenters interpret their speech-related anxiety more positively. Participants (Mage = 20.14, SD = 2.72) received either an inoculation (n = 102) or control (n = 128) message prior to engaging a public speaking task and reported a range of anxiety-related perceptions. Accounting for personality characteristics and perceptions of task importance, and relative to control participants, those who received the inoculation message reported significantly lower pre-task anxiety, and following the task, reported that they had experienced lower somatic anxiety, and that the inoculation message had caused them to view their nerves in a less debilitating light. Inoculation messages may be an effective strategy for helping participants reframe and reduce their apprehension about public speaking, and investigating their efficacy in other stress-inducing contexts may be worthwhile.

Item ID: 61557
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1932-6203
Keywords: public speaking, inoculation theory, anxiety
Copyright Information: © 2017 Jackson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Date Deposited: 25 Feb 2020 22:09
FoR Codes: 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920410 Mental Health @ 100%
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