Our Research

Replication Projects

GIRCS coordinates multilab replication studies targeting landmark findings in communication science. Each project uses a preregistered, open-science design and recruits labs across countries to maximise statistical power and generalisability. Results are published open-access regardless of outcome.

All Projects

Active — Launching May 2026

The Robustness of Fear Appeals:
A Multilab Registered Replication Study

Replicating: Witte, K. (1994). Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process model (EPPM). Communication Monographs, 61, 113–134.

Funder NWO Replication Studies (Type 3)
Budget €199,951
Duration 36 months (May 2026 – May 2029)
Type Multilab Registered Replication

Kim Witte's Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) is one of the most influential theories in health communication. Cited over 5,000 times and taught in textbooks worldwide, it underlies major public health campaigns — yet its foundational 1994 empirical test was conducted with only 146 students, never included a 6-week follow-up in its replication record, and has not been tested for generalisability across cultures and populations.

This project conducts the first large-scale, preregistered, multilab replication of the EPPM, recruiting labs across five countries to test whether the core threat × efficacy interaction holds at scale, what the unbiased effect size is, and what moderates cross-lab variation. Stage 1 preregistration will be submitted to a journal offering Registered Replication Reports — guaranteeing publication regardless of outcome.

Research Questions

  • Do the core EPPM predictions replicate across labs and populations?
  • What is the unbiased effect size for threat and efficacy appraisals on behavioural intentions?
  • Does the critical threat × efficacy interaction hold in a large, preregistered design?
  • Do maladaptive responses mediate behavioural outcomes?
  • What moderators drive heterogeneity across labs?

Project Timeline

May 2026

Project launch & website live

Oct 2026

Stage 1 preregistration submitted

Feb 2027

Protocol finalised; labs recruited

Apr 2027

Pilot testing begins

Apr 2028

Data collection ends

Jun 2028

Meta-analysis

Jan 2029

Manuscript submitted

Project Team   Anita Eerland (PI, Radboud) · Lisa Vandeberg (Radboud) · Philipp K. Masur (VU Amsterdam) · Ivar Vermeulen (VU Amsterdam) · Marieke Fransen (Radboud)
Active — Batch 1 Published

Online Privacy and Self-Disclosure:
A Direct Replication Program

Direct replication of 10 landmark studies across five thematic batches on privacy concerns, self-disclosure behavior, and privacy protection strategies on social media platforms.

Duration 2021–2026
Type Preregistered Direct Replication

Project Overview

This initiative systematically replicates 10 seminal studies on online privacy and self-disclosure, organized in five thematic batches. The first batch, covering privacy calculus, context collapse, and the privacy paradox (Krasnova 2010, Vitak 2012, Dienlin & Trepte 2015), was published in the Journal of Communication. Subsequent batches will examine privacy cynicism, privacy fatigue, privacy literacy, and other key phenomena across diverse social media contexts.

Batch 1: Privacy Calculus, Paradox & Context Collapse

Published: Journal of Communication (June 2025)

The first three studies revealed a critical shift in privacy behavior: the concern–disclosure link has reversed. In the original 2010–2015 studies, higher privacy concerns predicted less disclosure. In our 2025 replication, higher concerns predicted more disclosure. This reversal suggests a fundamental change in how social media users respond to privacy risks — shifting from protective behavior to resigned disclosure despite concerns.

Batch 2: Privacy Fatigue & Cynicism

Forthcoming: Edward Elgar volume on privacy cynicism (2026)

This batch replicated two foundational studies on privacy fatigue (Choi et al., 2018) and privacy cynicism (Lutz et al., 2020). Privacy fatigue effects replicate robustly across cultures, predicting both disengagement and disclosure. However, cynicism's protective role is more complex: while cynicism predicted disengagement in the originals, it did not reduce protective behaviors, suggesting resignation and withdrawal operate separately from active privacy protection. The evidence supports a refined three-pathway taxonomy — depletion (exhaustion), defeat (learned futility), and vigilance (threat-driven protection) — that can coexist in the same person. Overall, 80% of original paths replicated with near-identical magnitudes (r = .90 across effects).

Research Questions

  • Do the core findings of 10 landmark studies in privacy research replicate when conducted in contemporary samples?
  • Do effects hold when we add theoretically motivated paths and extensions to the original models?
  • How sensitive are key relationships to analytical choices and measurement variations?

Project Timeline

2021

Idea and study design

2022

Batch 1 data collection (Krasnova, Vitak, Dienlin & Trepte)

2023

Batch 2 data collection (Choi, Lutz)

2024

Batch 3 data collection

2025

Batch 4 data collection & Batch 1 published (JOC)

2026

Batch 2 published (Edward Elgar chapter)

Lead Investigator   Philipp K. Masur (VU Amsterdam)
Published — 2024

Direct Replication in Experimental
Communication Science: A Taxonomy

A conceptual framework for classifying and justifying replication studies in communication research by replicator motivation rather than methodological similarity.

This methodological paper develops a taxonomy of replication types organized by replicator motivation — verification, study generalizability, theory generalizability, and extension. The core argument: direct replications in communication science require deviations from originals (updated stimuli, platforms, timeframes) to remain scientifically meaningful. The paper walks through seven study elements (sample, setting, procedure, design, measures, stimuli, analyses) and articulates rules for when deviations are updates (necessary for verification) versus deliberate deviations (associated with generalizability tests).

Duration 2024
Type Conceptual Framework / Published Paper
Authors   Ivar E. Vermeulen (VU Amsterdam) · Philipp K. Masur (VU Amsterdam) · Camiel J. Beukeboom (VU Amsterdam) · Benjamin K. Johnson (University of Florida)

More projects coming soon

GIRCS is developing its pipeline of future replication studies. We welcome community nominations for studies that would benefit from large-scale, multilab replication.

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GIRCS recruits labs across countries for each project. If you lead a lab in communication science or a related field, membership is the pipeline into consortium invitations.

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