RAPID Proposal: Psychological distance and risk perception related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak

这个项目评估了美国公众对2019年起源于武汉的新型冠状病毒爆发的感知，中国。这项研究的重点是考察美国人对疫情根本原因的看法，以及他们是否认为疫情对大多数美国人来说是一个遥远的问题，这将决定他们对疫情的风险认知和情绪反应。此外，该项目还考察了风险认知和情绪对美国人是否寻求有关这一问题的信息、与他人分享信息以及支持包括国际合作在内的公共卫生政策的影响程度。这项拟议的研究推进了风险传播研究，并增强了我们对有利于公共健康、繁荣和福利的战略信息设计的理解。拟议的研究是一项实验性调查，旨在评估1)心理距离(特别是空间和社会距离)和因果归因如何影响美国公众对2019年新型冠状病毒爆发的风险认知；2)疫情的心理解释如何决定美国人对疫情的情绪反应；3)风险认知和情绪反应如何影响风险沟通行为和公众对美国参与援助的支持；以及4)文化认知是否调节了这些关系。这项研究包括一项调查，基于具有全国代表性的1000名参与者的样本，他们被随机分配到四种实验条件下。心理距离和因果归因是主要的实验因素，文化认知是主要的调节变量，而风险感知、情绪反应、沟通行为和对美国应对努力的支持是结果变量。此次疫情为研究公众风险认知和风险沟通行为提供了独特的背景。虽然在研究开始时只有一小部分病例在美国得到确认，但随着媒体的高度关注，美国政府已经对所有去过中国大陆的外国公民中国发布了旅行禁令。社会认知机制，如心理距离、因果归因和文化认知，可能会协同影响公众的风险认知以及随后的传播行为和对公共卫生政策的支持。探索这些机制及其各自的影响可以帮助我们了解如何更好地沟通相互关联的世界中的重大疾病爆发。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project assesses the American public’s perception of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China. The focus of this research is to examine whether Americans’ perception of the root cause of the outbreak, as well as whether they believe the outbreak is a distant issue for most Americans, will determine their risk perception and emotional responses to the outbreak. Further, this project examines the extent to which risk perception and emotions influence whether Americans seek information about this issue, share information with others, and support public health policies including international cooperation. The proposed research advances risk communication research, as well as enhances our understanding of strategic messaging design to benefit public health, prosperity and welfare.The proposed research is an experimental survey to assess 1) how psychological distance (especially spatial and social distance) and causal attribution influence the U.S. public’s risk perception surrounding the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak; 2) how mental construal of the outbreak determines Americans’ emotional responses to the outbreak; 3) how risk perception and emotional responses influence risk communication behaviors and public support for U.S. involvement in providing aid; and 4) whether cultural cognition moderates these relationships. The research involves a survey, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 participants, who are randomly assigned to four experimental conditions. Psychological distance and causal attributions are the main experimental factors with cultural cognition as the primary moderator, while risk perception, emotional responses, communication behaviors, and support for U.S. response effort are the outcome variables. The outbreak provides a unique context to study public risk perception and risk communication behaviors. Although only a small number cases have been confirmed in the U.S. at the inception of the research, there is heightened media attention and the U.S. government has issued a travel ban to all foreign nationals who have been to mainland China. It is possible that social cognitive mechanisms, such as psychological distance, causal attribution, and cultural cognition will synergistically influence public risk perceptions and subsequent communication behaviors and support for public health policies. Exploring these mechanisms and their respective impacts can help us understand how to communicate better about a major disease outbreak in an interconnected world.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.