RAPID: Combating the Spread of COVID-19: Testing Cost-Effective Strategies for Promoting Behavior Change

流行病和大流行病源于人类行为，同样可以通过改变人类行为来减轻。 人类行为的变化本身是由社会学习过程塑造的-人们如何知道，记住，并相信-违反推荐的安全协议的后果。 该研究项目将使用实验方法来调查不同的信息共享策略如何影响人们对协议的学习，以减少COVID-19的传播和遵守这些协议。 该项目将测试好奇心诱导策略（通过测验而不是直接陈述的形式提供信息）和同行信息共享策略（要求消息接收者将可靠的COVID相关安全性传递给几个联系人）在不同社会背景下对大流行病的社会学习的相对有效性，从而使研究结果适用于更广泛的环境。 了解哪种社会传播策略在不同社会背景下更有效地促进关于流行病的社会学习，将使政策制定者能够制定和实施更有效的传播策略，特别是减少COVID-19流行病的传播，并普遍改善社会学习。 研究结果将有助于改善美国公民的健康和经济福祉，并有助于建立美国在抗击全球流行病方面的全球领导者地位。流行病和流行病的出现和传播是通过人类行为进行的;同样，它们也可以通过来自社会学习的人类行为变化来缓解。 人们是如何了解--记住并相信--违反推荐的安全协议的潜在后果的？什么因素会影响人们在获得新的健康相关知识时是否、何时以及如何表现出不同的行为？ 该项目将通过在不同社区进行的三项相互关联的随机对照试验，推进关于替代性信息共享战略如何影响人们学习和遵守公共卫生协议的研究。 这些随机对照试验测试了两种旨在通过短信传递的信息共享技术的有效性：好奇心诱导（通过以测验而不是直接陈述的形式呈现信息来实现）和同行信息共享（要求消息接收者将可靠的COVID相关安全信息传递给几个联系人）。这些技术的共同目标是使COVID-19相关知识和行为符合卫生当局制定的安全协议。 在不同的社区进行随机对照试验，使研究人员能够了解社会背景如何影响特定沟通模式的有效性。 该研究的结果与减少COVID-19大流行有直接的政策相关性。 除了帮助改善美国人的健康和经济福祉外，该研究项目还将帮助美国成为抗击全球流行病的全球领导者。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。

Epidemics and pandemics emerge from human behavior and can similarly be mitigated by changing human behavior. Human behavioral changes are themselves shaped by social learning processes---how people come to know, remember, and believe---the consequences of violating recommended safety protocols. This research project will use experimental methods to investigate how different information sharing strategies affect people’s learning about protocols to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and adherence to these protocols. The project will test the relative effectiveness of curiosity inducement strategy (by presenting information in the form of a quiz rather than a direct statement) and peer information sharing strategies (asking message recipients to pass reliable COVID-related safety to several contacts) for social learning about the pandemic in different social context, thus allowing the results of the research to be applicable to broader environments. Understanding which social communication strategy is more effective in promoting social learning about pandemics within different social contexts will allow policy makers to develop and implement more efficient communication strategies to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, and improve social learning generally. The research results will help improve the health and economic well-being of American citizens as well as help establish the United States as the global leader in combating global pandemics.Epidemics and pandemics emerge and are spread by human behavior; similarly, they are mitigated by human behavioral changes that come from social learning. How do people learn—come to remember and believe—the potential consequences of violating recommended safety protocols? What factors influence whether, when, and how people behave differently when given new health-related knowledge? This project will advance research on how alternative information-sharing strategies impact people’s learning of and adherence to public health protocols through three interrelated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to be conducted in different communities. These RCTs test the effectiveness of two information-sharing techniques designed for delivery via text messages: curiosity inducement (achieved through presenting information in the form of a quiz rather than a direct statement) and peer information sharing (asking message recipients to pass reliable COVID-related safety information on to several contacts). The techniques share the goal of bringing COVID-19 related knowledge and behavior into line with safety protocols set by health authorities. Conducting the RCTs across different communities allows the researchers to understand how social context affect the effectiveness of a particular mode of communication. The results of this research has direct policy relevance to reducing the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to helping to improve the health and economic well-being of Americans, this research project will also help establish the U.S. as the global leader in combating global pandemics.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.