Are more behavioral measures perceived as less effective against COVID-19?
Are more behavioral measures perceived as less effective against COVID-19?
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是否认为行为措施越多，针对 COVID-19 的效果就越差？
DOI：
10.1037/tps0000321
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发表时间：
2022
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Yokoi Ryosuke
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Nakayachi Kazuya;Yokoi Ryosuke
随着COVID-19大流行在全球范围内持续肆虐，实施多种行为措施变得越来越重要（例如戴口罩、保持社交距离和充足的房间通风）。一些研究表明，人们认为的有效性是个人遵守这些保护措施的一个关键决定因素。这项研究将感知有效性定义为对一个人感染COVID-19的可能性减少的主观评价。实施行为措施的组合，而不是只有一个，是更有效的;因此，个人应该评估组合的有效性高于单一行为。然而，“少即是好”效应预测人们对一组措施的评价不如最有效的一个，即使后者被包括在该组中。我们的4项研究（总N= 1，401）检查了参与者对针对COVID-19感染的行为措施有效性的评估中是否出现了“少即是好”效应。参与者对8项预防措施的有效性进行评分，然后将这些措施结合起来。结果一致表明，多层行为的有效性被评为低于最高评价的个人行为，显示了“少即是好”的效果在评估感染预防行为的有效性的鲁棒性。然而，在研究4中，关于多种措施有效性的简短信息略微降低了这种影响。这些发现对公众健康风险沟通的感知偏差以及如何减少对保护措施的偏见有意义的影响。
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage worldwide, the implementation of multiple behavioral measures has become increasingly relevant (eg, mask wearing, social distancing, and adequate room ventilation). Several studies have indicated that perceived effectiveness is a critical determinant of individuals’ compliance with these protective measures. This study defines perceived effectiveness as a subjective evaluation of one’s probable reduction of chances of being infected with COVID-19. Implementing a combination of behavioral measures, rather than only 1, is more effective; therefore, individuals should evaluate the effectiveness of the combination as higher than that of a single behavior. However, the “less-is-better” effect predicts that people evaluate a set of measures as less effective than the most effective one, even though the latter is included in the set. Our 4 studies (total N= 1,401) examined whether the “less-is-better” effect occurred in participants’ evaluation of the effectiveness of behavioral measures against COVID-19 infection. Participants scored the effectiveness of 8 preventive measures, followed by the combination of these measures. The results consistently showed that the effectiveness of multilayered behaviors was rated lower than that of the highest-evaluated individual behavior, showing the robustness of the “less-is-better” effect in evaluating the effectiveness of behaviors for infection prevention. However, in Study 4, a brief message about the effectiveness of multiple measures slightly reduced this effect. These findings have meaningful implications for public health risk communication about perception bias as well as ways to reduce bias against protection measures.