RAPID: The impact of norms and emotions on social distancing during COVID-19

在2020年COVID-19危机之前，美国从未试图在如此长的时间内大规模影响高承诺行为。人类是“社会动物”;促进保护社区健康的行为，如身体距离，违背了我们的社会本性，如果没有真正相信保护他人重要性的人，很难维持。随着社交媒体和政策环境的变化，COVID-19大流行的性质和人们对其的反应正在迅速变化。在危机期间，每天（甚至每小时）关注新闻和社交媒体帖子的情况更为普遍，而这种信息量会影响我们对世界的看法和感受;最终它会驱动我们的行为。然而，能够在真实的时间内记录这些快速变化是罕见的。这项研究利用团队在社交媒体沟通建模和分析方面的进展，利用社交媒体数据和自我报告调查，在2个月的时间里研究了社会规范，情绪（包括愤怒和内疚）和COVID-19风险降低行为之间的动态关系。这项研究可以作为沟通努力的基础，以促进减缓疾病传播的行为，它可以解释社会规范如何随着时间的推移而变化。密歇根州立大学健康与风险交流中心支持将研究成果转化为实践。描述性社会规范（什么是常见的）和强制性规范（得到他人的认可）在危机期间可能会比其他时间更快地演变;然而，在真实的时间内研究规范演变是具有挑战性的。规范的演变在一定程度上是由沟通所塑造的，既有中介的，也有人际的。COVID-19大流行中出现的物理距离意味着更多地依赖媒体获取信息，人际接触减少。了解规范的起源以及在全球大流行期间真实的演变至关重要，因为规范可以预测风险行为。此外，个体对自己遵守描述性和强制性规范的看法与离散的情绪和危险行为（如身体距离）有关。这项研究提出并测试了关于社会规范，离散情绪（包括愤怒和内疚）之间关系的预测，以及通过物理距离降低风险。这些方法结合了联合收割机滚动横截面调查和社交媒体刮取技术。该研究利用最近完成的国家Qualtrics调查作为基线。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Prior to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. had never attempted to influence high-commitment behaviors at such a large-scale for an extended period. Humans are "social animals"; promoting behaviors that protect the health of the community, like physical distancing, is against our social nature and difficult to maintain without people who truly believe in the importance of protecting others. The nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and peoples’ response to it are changing quickly as the social media and policy environment changes. Daily (even hourly) attention to the news and social media posts is more commonplace during crises, and this volume of exposure to information affects how we see and feel about the world; ultimately it drives what we do. Yet, it is rare to be able to document these rapid changes in real time. This study uses the team’s advances in communication modeling and analysis of social media to examine the dynamic relationships between social norms, emotions (including anger and guilt), and COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors using social media data and self-report surveys over the course of 2 months. This research can serve as the basis for communication efforts to promote behaviors to slow the spread of the disease and it can explain how social norms change over time. The Michigan State University Health and Risk Communication Center supports the movement of the research findings into practice.Descriptive social norms (what is common) and injunctive norms (approved by others) are likely to evolve more quickly during a crisis relative to other times; yet studying norm evolution in real time is challenging. The evolution of norms is, in part, shaped by communication, both mediated and interpersonal. The advent of physical distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic means a greater reliance on media for information and fewer interpersonal contacts. Understanding the genesis of norms, and their evolution in real time during a global pandemic is critical because norms predict risk behaviors. Moreover, individuals’ perceptions of their compliance with descriptive and injunctive norms co-vary with discrete emotions and risk behaviors like physical distancing. This research proposes and tests predictions about relationships among social norms, discrete emotions (including anger and guilt), and risk reduction through physical distancing. The methods combine a rolling cross-sectional survey and social media scraping techniques. The study leverages a recently completed national Qualtrics survey as a baseline. The project findings are translated for use in communication interventions to promote risk reduction and reduce COVID-19 transmission and future infectious disease outbreaks.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.