RAPID: Changes in Social Attitudes and Behavior in Response to COVID-19

对于许多美国公民来说，迅速增加的2019年冠状病毒疾病(新冠肺炎)的威胁已经导致了广泛的行为变化，包括社交距离和自我隔离。确定预测不愿从事预防性健康行为的社会和心理因素，对于制定减少广泛传播的疾病的战略至关重要。该项目确定了与预防性行为改变相关的心理社会因素，从而突出了谁可能面临感染和传播新冠肺炎以及未来传染病的更大风险。这项研究将为旨在增加预防性健康行为以减少病原体传播的干预措施提供信息。新冠肺炎的威胁也改变了许多社会态度，包括对特定群体的偏见，比如亚裔。这个项目将阐明这种社会变化对政策、国际关系和个人决策的长期影响。这个项目提供信息并促进对人类行为免疫系统(BIS)的基本理解。BIS的理论涵盖了人类为减少疾病感染而采取的各种行为，这使得这项研究特别及时。这项研究测试了对传染的恐惧如何影响与健康相关的行为和社会态度的预测。其中一个目标是量化针对新冠肺炎威胁的社会行为和态度发生了多大程度的变化。还将测试个体差异(个性特征、人口统计、厌恶敏感度)的缓和效果。这项研究采用了一种新颖的、密集的纵向设计，对具有全国代表性的大样本进行了一年的跟踪调查。将在整个大流行期间收集数据，随着威胁的消退，数据收集的频率会降低。在线调查将评估预防行为(例如，洗手、社交距离)、社会态度(偏见、危险的世界观、社会信仰)和个人差异变量。还将收集每个受访者所在地区关于新冠肺炎患病率的全国统计数据，以确定社会态度和行为的变化是否与新冠肺炎的变化同步。该项目将为当前和未来增加预防性健康行为和减少疾病传播的努力提供信息。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。

For many U.S. citizens the rapidly increasing threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to widespread behavior change, including social distancing and self-quarantine. Determining the social and psychological factors that predict unwillingness to engage in preventative health behaviors is crucial to develop strategies for reducing widespread disease. This project identifies psychosocial factors associated with preventative behavior change, thereby highlighting who may be at greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 and future infectious diseases. The research will inform interventions designed to increase preventative health behaviors that reduce pathogen transmission. The threat of COVID-19 has also altered many social attitudes, including bias toward specific groups such as people of Asian descent. This project will shed light on the long-term consequences of such social changes for policy, international relations, and individual decision making.This project informs and advances basic understanding of the human Behavioral Immune System (BIS). The BIS is theorized to encompass a variety of behaviors that humans adopt to reduce disease infection, making this research particularly timely. The research tests predictions regarding how fear of contagion influences health related behaviors and social attitudes. One goal is to quantify the extent to which social behaviors and attitudes have changed in response to the COVID-19 threat. The moderating effects of individual differences (personality traits, demographics, disgust sensitivity) will also be tested. The research utilizes a novel, intensive longitudinal design that follows a large nationally representative U.S. sample for one year. Data will be collected throughout the pandemic, decreasing in frequency as the threat subsides. Online surveys will assess preventative behaviors (e.g., handwashing, social distancing), social attitudes (prejudice, dangerous worldview, social beliefs), and individual difference variables. National statistics regarding COVID-19 prevalence in each survey respondent’s locale will also be collected to determine whether changes in social attitudes and behavior parallel changes in COVID-19 threat. The project will inform current and future efforts for increasing preventative health behaviors and reducing the spread of disease.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.