Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) is a way to understand how fear affects our health choices (Rogers, 1983). According to PMT, when we hear messages that make us scared about our health, we have two ways of thinking about them. The first is threat appraisal, where we think about how serious the health threat is and how likely it is to happen to us. If we think the threat is severe and we’re vulnerable to it, we’re less likely to make bad choices. However, if we think there are rewards or benefits to the risky behavior, like having fun or getting approval from others, we’re more likely to make bad choices.
The second way of thinking is coping appraisal. This is when we think about how we can deal with the threat. If we believe there are actions we can take that will really help reduce the threat and we’re confident we can do them, we’re more likely to do them. If we think it will cost us a lot of money or physical effort, we’re less likely to make good choices.
Our intention to protect ourselves is based on these two ways of thinking, and it guides our health behavior. PMT focuses on four main things: how vulnerable we feel, how severe we think the threat is, how effective our actions will be, and how confident we are in our ability to take action. These things help us predict how likely it is that we’ll take care of our health (Norman et al., 2015). Studies using PMT have shown that people who feel vulnerable and think the threat is severe are more motivated to protect themselves (Milne et al., 2000). Also, people who believe they can take effective action and are confident in their abilities are more motivated to protect themselves. These factors have a moderate association with our future behavior.
In studies about exercise, PMT has explained between 25% and 53% of why people intend to exercise, with confidence in their abilities and belief in the effectiveness of exercise being the most consistent factors (Norman et al., 2015). PMT has also explained between 20% and 40% of why people actually exercise, with intention and confidence in their abilities being the most consistent factors (Norman et al., 2015). PMT has been mostly used in general health contexts, but there have been some studies in sports participation as well. For example, one study found that how serious people think a sports injury is and how confident they are in following their physiotherapists’ recommendations were important factors in complying with the recommendations (Taylor & May, 1996).
PMT has also been tested in experiments where researchers manipulated specific factors to see how they affected people’s motivation to protect themselves (Norman et al., 2015). These experiments found that changing these factors had significant effects on people’s intentions to exercise. Other studies have tested interventions based on PMT, where all the factors are addressed together (Norman et al., 2015). These interventions have also had significant effects on people’s intentions and behavior related to exercise.
Milne, S., Sheeran, P., & Orbell, S. (2000). Prediction and intervention in health-related behavior: A meta-analytic review of protection motivation theory. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 106 143.
Norman, P., Boer, H., Seydel, E. R., & Mullan, B. (2015). Protection motivation theory. In M. Conner, & P. Norman (Eds.), Predicting and changing health behaviour: Research and practice with social cognition models (pp. 70 106). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Rogers, R. W. (1983). Cognitive and physiological processes in fear appeals and attitude change: A revised theory of pro- tection motivation. In J. T. Cacioppo, & R. E. Petty (Eds.), Social psychophysiology: A source book (pp. 153 176). New York: Guilford Press.
Taylor, A. H., & May, S. (1996). Threat and coping appraisal as determinants of compliance with sports injury rehabilita- tion. An application of protection motivation theory. Journal of Sports Sciences, 14, 471 482.