Emotional Responses and Self-Protective Behavior Within Days of the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Promoting Role of Information Credibility
Emotional Responses and Self-Protective Behavior Within Days of the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Promoting Role of Information Credibility
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DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01846
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发表时间：
2020-07-31
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Hacin Beyazoglu, Kaja
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Lep, Zan;Babnik, Katarina;Hacin Beyazoglu, Kaja
由于自上一次全球疫情以来信息环境发生了变化，世卫组织高级官员表示，不仅需要应对当前的COVID-19大流行，而且需要应对相关的信息流行。因此，我们探讨了人们如何搜索信息、如何看待信息的可信度，以及这一切与他们在COVID-19疫情爆发后的关键时期采取自我保护行为的关系。在线问卷在斯洛文尼亚确诊首例COVID-19病例后48小时内分发。我们收集了参与者的人口统计数据、对情况的感知、他们对情况的情绪和行为反应（即，自我保护行为），主观知识，不同信息来源的可信度，以及他们的信任程度。我们调查了1,718名参与者的感知可信度和信任度以及自我保护行为之间的关系，发现大众媒体，社交媒体和官员的信任度相对较低。相反，医疗专业人员和科学家被认为是最可信的。所收到信息的可信度不仅与消极情绪反应水平较低有关，而且与更多地坚持采取旨在遏制疾病蔓延的急需的自我保护措施有关。虽然结果可能会因社会对相关政府和专业机构的信任程度不同而有所不同，虽然我们的模型解释的自我保护行为得分的差异是适度的，但即使是自我保护行为的小幅增加也可能在我们今天面临的病毒流行病中发挥很大作用。
Due to changes in the information environment since the last global epidemic, high WHO officials have spoken about the need to fight not only the current COVID-19 pandemic but also the related infodemic. We thus explored how people search for information, how they perceive its credibility, and how all this relates to their engagement in self-protective behaviors in the crucial period right after the onset of COVID-19 epidemic. The online questionnaire was circulated within 48 h after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Slovenia. We gathered information on participants' demographics, perception of the situation, their emotional and behavioral responses to the situation (i.e., self-protective behavior), perceived subjective knowledge, perceived credibility of different sources of information, and their level of trust. We looked into the relationships between perceived credibility and trust, and self-protective behavior of 1,718 participants and found that mass media, social media, and officials received relatively low levels of trust. Conversely, medical professionals and scientists were deemed the most credible. The perceived credibility of received information was linked not only with lower levels of negative emotional responses but also with higher adherence to much needed self-protective measures, which aim to contain the spread of the disease. While results might vary between societies with different levels of trust in relevant governmental and professional institutions, and while variances in self-protective behavior scores explained by our model are modest, even a small increase in self-protective behavior could go a long way in viral epidemics like the one we are facing today.