RAPID: Media Exposure, Objective Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Risk Management Preferences of Americans Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

RAPID：美国人对新型冠状病毒爆发的媒体曝光、客观知识、风险认知和风险管理偏好

• 批准号: 2411612
• 负责人: Branden Johnson
• 金额: $ 12.5万
• 依托单位: Oregon Research Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-12-01 至 2025-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2411612&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Media; Exposure; Objective; Knowledge

The sudden observation in Wuhan, China, in December, 2019, of humans infected with a new virus (officially 2019-nCoV virus and COVID-19 disease, publicly known as “the coronavirus”) provides yet another example of scientists and policymakers being surprised as a virus observed in animal and/or bird populations, or transmitted by mosquitoes, became infectious and damaging in humans (e.g., two coronaviruses: SARS 2002-2003, MERS 2012; recent major outbreaks of Ebola virus, 2014-2016, and Zika virus, 2015-2017). Understanding dynamics of public responses to such events under uncertainty is necessary to learn how to avoid either undue apathy or undue panic. This project explores how Americans’ views of and behavior towards the coronavirus change—or do not change—over 9 months. This will serve the national interest in progress in science by improving our understanding of how people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors interact both within the same person over time, and between people with individual differences in attitudes at a given time. The research tests a novel model of how views of personal and collective solutions to what appears to be an emerging pandemic are affected by beliefs and attitudes, which builds upon prior work including the Protection Action Decision Model. The research also may improve public health and prosperity by revealing what factors are associated with particular reactions that may make public health protection easier or harder to implement. It thus affects whether quarantines, travel bans, and other policies meant to be protective hamper or amplify economic growth as well. The project also tests messages about false beliefs and flu vaccine efficacy that may inform public health risk communication and thus improve public health.A longitudinal study design surveys the same Americans five times at 2-month intervals, thus over 9 months total. Each wave of the project asks the same questions: perceived risk; emotional reactions to the virus; reported personal protective behavior and support for actual or potential government policies; and beliefs about those behaviors and policies; trust in government; subjective and objective knowledge about the virus; psychological distance from the virus; how much individuals are following news about the virus; and which types of traditional and social media sources they use and which outlets they use (e.g., different TV channels or different social media sites). Repeating these questions over time allows the research team to examine whether changes occur in these views and behaviors over time, or relations between factors over time (for example, do risk perceptions actually predict later protective behaviors). Certain other factors, such as culture, conspiracy thoughts, and blatant and subtle prejudice—are measured during one survey wave as a control. The survey is complemented by content analysis of mass and social media information from sources that respondents report using, so the researchers can test effects of that exposure on objective knowledge, risk perceptions, and behaviors. An information manipulation experiment embedded in the last survey will allow testing of whether vaccination intentions for the influenza (“flu”) virus can be increased in light of perceived threat from this coronavirus, and whether false beliefs about the coronavirus threat and management can be diminished in the short-term.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.

2019 年 12 月，中国武汉突然观察到人类感染了一种新病毒（正式名称为 2019-nCoV 病毒和 COVID-19 疾病，公众称为“冠状病毒”），这又是一个让科学家和政策制定者感到惊讶的例子在动物和/或鸟类种群中观察到的病毒，或通过蚊子传播的病毒，对人类具有传染性和破坏性（例如，两种冠状病毒：SARS 2002-2003、MERS 2012 年；最近爆发的埃博拉病毒（2014-2016 年）和寨卡病毒（2015-2017 年）。了解公众对此类事件的反应动态对于了解如何避免过度冷漠或过度恐慌是必要的。美国人对冠状病毒的看法和行为在 9 个月内发生了变化（或没有变化），这将通过提高我们对人们信仰的理解来服务于科学进步的国家利益。这项研究测试了一种新模型，该模型展示了个人和集体对似乎正在出现的流行病的解决方案的看法如何受到影响。该研究还可以通过揭示哪些因素与可能使公共卫生保护更容易或更难实施的特定反应相关来改善公共卫生和繁荣。隔离、旅行禁令和其他政策是否旨在起到保护作用该项目还测试了有关错误信念和流感疫苗功效的信息，这些信息可能会为公共卫生风险沟通提供信息，从而改善公共卫生。一项纵向研究设计每隔两个月对同一美国人进行五次调查，因此超过 9 次。该项目的每一波都提出相同的问题：对病毒的感知风险；报告的个人保护行为和对政府实际或潜在政策的支持；以及对这些行为和政策的信任；对病毒的了解；与病毒的心理距离；正在关注有关该病毒的新闻；以及他们使用哪些类型的传统和社交媒体来源以及他们使用哪些渠道（例如，不同的电视频道或不同的社交媒体网站），随着时间的推移重复这些问题可以让研究团队检查是否发生了变化。随着时间的推移，这些观点和行为的变化，或者随着时间的推移，因素之间的关系（例如，风险感知实际上可以预测以后的保护行为）吗？在一项调查中测量了某些其他因素，例如文化、阴谋思想以及公然和微妙的偏见。调查以内容为补充。分析受访者报告使用的来源的大众和社交媒体信息，以便研究人员可以测试该暴露对客观知识、风险认知和行为的影响。上次调查中嵌入的信息操纵实验将允许测试疫苗接种意图是否正确。根据这种冠状病毒反映的感知威胁，流感（“流感”）病毒是否可以增加，以及是否可以在短期内减少对冠状病毒威胁和管理的错误信念。该奖项符合 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的通过利用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响力进行评估来提供支持审查标准。