RAPID: A Multi-Level Analysis of Social and Behavioral Responses to COVID-19

COVID-19疫情对美国乃至整个世界来说是一个迅速发展的重要挑战，并可能产生重大的社会和经济影响。 作为减缓疾病传播的更广泛努力的一部分，实施了非药物干预。 美国公民被指示加强卫生措施，如洗手，并通过限制与其他人的接触来增加社交距离，特别是在人群中。 在一些州，学校和企业关闭以及其他形式的强制限制也开始影响到人们和家庭。 了解公众对这场持续爆发的疫情的反应至关重要，社会心理学和决策科学的观点可能会对政府和非政府组织有效应对进一步危机的努力的效力作出独特贡献。该项目研究了疫情期间行为的预测因素（例如，参与社交距离），情绪和应对反应（例如，寻求社会支持）以及社会态度的变化（例如，对公共政策的信任）。 这项研究验证了个人福利和集体/国家福利都能促进适当的健康行为的观点。 通过在2020年随时间推移对人们进行跟踪，该研究定期提供公众对疫情反应的快照，并测试重要的科学问题，这些问题将为未来的公共卫生和灾害应对干预提供信息。这个RAPID项目以3，000名美国居民的代表性样本的四波纵向调查为中心。研究参与者于2020年3月首次联系，然后大约每12周在随后的三个时间点再次联系。 这项研究旨在提供一个指数，反映全年公众对疫情的反应。威胁被概念化为对自我的威胁或对国家福利的威胁。同样，对这些威胁的反应也被定为要求个人负责或要求国家作出反应。因为这项研究随着时间的推移对相同的参与者进行了评估，所以这项研究解决了人们环境的变化如何预测心理和行为反应的变化。 一个问题是，对更广泛的社会影响的关注的变化是否与对个人健康影响的关注不同地预测对公共卫生建议和任务的遵守。 该研究还确定了参与者的地理位置;随着时间的推移，调查答复将与公开数据相结合，以研究当地因素如何影响心理反应。 这将有助于解决在社区复原力方面有更多投资的州和社区的人们（例如，公共卫生资金）对疫情的应对措施比社区复原力投资较少的州和社区更好。 该研究设计在第2波和第3波采用了沟通干预措施，以测试社会规范信息和共同（与个人）责任对人们遵守公共卫生准则和任务的意愿的作用。 使用这些纵向，地理和实验方法，研究将测试四个广泛主题的假设：个人和社会责任，规范和社会影响，应对和情绪调节，以及爆发对社会凝聚力和冲突的影响。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。

The COVID-19 outbreak represents a rapidly unfolding and important challenge to the United States and to the world at large with the potential for significant social and economic impact. Non-pharmaceutical interventions were implemented as part of a broader effort to slow the spread of the disease. U.S. citizens were instructed to increase hygiene efforts such as hand-washing and to increase social distancing by limiting contact with other people, especially in large crowds. In some states, school and business closures, as well as other forms of mandated restrictions, also began impacting people and families. Understanding the public’s response to this ongoing outbreak is vital, and social psychological and decision-science perspectives may uniquely contribute to the effectiveness of governmental and non-governmental efforts to respond effectively to further crises. This project examines predictors of behavior during the outbreak (for example, engaging in social distancing), emotional and coping responses (for example, seeking social support), and changes in social attitudes (for example, trust in public policies). The research tests the idea that both personal welfare and collective/national welfare can facilitate appropriate health behaviors. By following people over time during 2020, the study provides periodic snapshots of public responses to the outbreak as well as testing important scientific questions that will inform future public health and disaster-response interventions.This RAPID project is centered on a four-wave longitudinal survey of a representative sample of 3,000 U.S. residents. Study participants are first contacted in March, 2020, and then again at three later time-points roughly every 12 weeks. The research is designed to provide an index of the evolving public response to the outbreak throughout the year. Threats are conceptualized as either threats to the self or threats to the national welfare. Similarly, reactions to those threats are framed as requiring personal responsibility or requiring a national response. Because the study assesses the same participants over time, the research addresses how changes in people’s circumstances predict changes in psychological and behavioral responses. One question is whether changes in concerns regarding the broader social impact predict adherence to public health advice and mandates differently than concerns about personal health impacts. The study also identifies participants’ geographic location; over time, survey responses will be integrated with publicly available data to examine how local factors influence psychological responses. This will help address whether people in states and communities with greater investment in community resilience (e.g., public health funding) show better coping responses to the outbreak than in states and communities with lower investments in community resilience. The study design incorporates communication interventions at waves 2 and 3 to test the role of social norm information and shared (versus individual) responsibility on people’s willingness to follow public health guidelines and mandates. Using these longitudinal, geographic, and experimental methods, the research will test hypotheses on four broad topics: personal and social responsibility, norms and social influence, coping and emotion regulation, and impacts of the outbreak on social cohesion and conflict. The new knowledge will inform future public health and policy interventions.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.