RAPID: Psychological distance and risk perception related to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak

本项目评估公众对2022年猴痘疫情的风险认知。到2022年夏末，美国有超过1.3万例猴痘病例，白宫于2022年8月4日宣布这一疫情进入公共卫生紧急状态。限制传播似乎需要针对高危人群的全面的国际疫苗接种战略。然而，关于这次疫情，仍有许多未知之处。本研究考察了影响公众风险认知的猴痘暴发的独特属性。此外，本项目还考察了风险认知对美国人参与预防行为和支持公共卫生应对措施的意愿的影响程度。这些研究问题现在值得关注，因为它们将为卫生和风险沟通提供重要见解，可能影响此次疫情的发展。本研究的目标是：1)整合心理测量范式、二次风险理论和解释水平理论，评估不确定性是否是二次风险评估的关键；2)评估心理距离、心理解释、风险感知、离散情绪和风险缓解决策之间的关系；3)确定猴痘疫情的独特属性，这些属性会影响公众对应对措施的支持和参与预防行为的意愿。这些目标将通过基于全国代表性样本的大规模调查（N = 1,000）来实现。结果可以推广到整个美国人口。由于媒体报道正在塑造公共风险，公众正在就与疫情有关的内部和外部不确定性进行谈判，因此立即开展这项研究至关重要，因为高危群体现在就做出预防行为的决定还为时不晚。确定可能促使人们采取预防行为的猴痘疫情的独特属性，将为风险沟通信息传递提供重要见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This project assesses public risk perceptions of the 2022 monkeypox outbreak. By late summer 2022 there were over 13,000 monkeypox cases in the U.S., and the White House declared this outbreak a public health emergency on August 4, 2022. Limiting spread would seem to require a comprehensive, international vaccination strategy targeting high-risk groups. There is still much unknown, however, about this outbreak. This research examines unique attributes of the monkeypox outbreak that shape public risk perceptions. Further, this project examines the extent to which risk perceptions influence Americans’ intention to engage in preventive behaviors and support public health response measures. These research questions warrant attention now because they will provide important insights for health and risk communication that can potentially shape the progression of this outbreak.The goals of the proposed research are: 1) integrate the psychometric paradigm, secondary risk theory, and construal level theory to evaluate whether uncertainty is key to secondary risk appraisal; 2) evaluate the relationship between psychological distance, mental construal, risk perceptions, discrete emotions, and risk mitigation decisions; 3) identify unique attributes of the monkeypox outbreak that influence the public’s support for response measures and intention to engage in preventive behaviors. These objectives will be achieved through a large-scale survey (N = 1,000) based on a nationally representative sample. Results can be generalizable to the entire U.S. population. As media coverage is shaping public risk, and members of the public are negotiating their internal and external uncertainty related to the outbreak, it is crucial to conduct this research immediately because it is not too late for high-risk groups to make decisions about preventive behaviors. Identifying unique attributes of the monkeypox outbreak that may motivate people to engage in preventive behaviors will offer crucial insights for risk communication messaging.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.