Abstract
Fear towards specific stimuli is thought to develop through mechanisms explained by associative learning theory. Evidence indicates that positive modelling, a form of observational learning, can counter these effects. This paper aimed to systematically review the literature that investigated positive modelling in order to understand its mechanisms and efficacy in reducing fear, thereby informing prevention and treatment initiatives for specific phobias. Psych Info, Medline and the Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection databases were systematically searched until February 2020. Studies that used non-human participants, individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions, a non-experimental method and did not solely use positive modelling as the fear reduction method were excluded. Of the 1,477 articles identified, 18 experiments across 14 journals met the inclusion criteria. The data revealed that there were three positive modelling procedures; ‘fear reduction’, which compared the effects of positive modelling on fear to a control condition; ‘fear prevention’, which examined the effects of positive modelling on fear prior to observational fear learning; and, ‘fear reversal’, which examined the effects of positive modelling on fear after observational fear learning. The mechanisms that underlie the positive modelling approaches varied and did not always confer with associative learning theory. Overall, positive modelling was found to be effective in reducing, preventing or reversing fear, but this was inconsistent. The ease at which positive modelling techniques can be used combined with their efficacy, emphasise the need for their inclusion in prevention and treatment initiatives. However, further research is required to understand the longevity of positive modelling, its efficacy in clinical groups and what makes it inefficacious.