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The current study employs psychological distance theory and the co-benefit frame to explore message framing strategies on social media to promote public support in climate change mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This online 2 x 2 x 2 experiment recruited 708 Chinese college students to examine the effect of temporal distance (2025 vs. 2050), spatial distance (China vs. the global), and the co-benefit frame (present vs. absent) on behavioral intentions to mitigate climate change and policy support in climate change mitigation. Unexpectedly, the MANOVA results showed that the co-benefit frame of COVID-19 and climate change did not have main or interaction that affect behavioral intention and policy support. However, close temporal distance increases support for climate change mitigation. Meanwhile, temporal and spatial distance have an interaction on behavioral intention. Our results suggest that strategies to reduce psychological distance on social media are effective, especially on temporal distance, but bonding two events through psychological distance to promote support for climate change mitigation must be reconsidered.
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While different antecedents have been examined to explain peoples' reactions towards COVID-19, there is only scarce understanding about the role of the subjective closeness and distance to the pandemic. Within the current study, we applied the concept of psychological distance to understand the distance towards COVID-19 and investigated its (1) connection with preventive attitudes and proactive behaviors, (2) context-specific antecedents, and its (3) mediating effect of knowledge on attitudes. Using an online sample from a German quantitative cross-sectional study (N = 395, M = 32.2 years, SD = 13.9 years, 64.3% female) in July 2020, a time with a general low incidence of people infected with Sars-CoV2, we measured relevant socio-psychological constructs addressing COVID-19 and included further information from external sources. Based on a path model, we found geographical distance as a significant predictor of cognitive attitudes towards COVID-19. Furthermore, hypothetical distance (i.e., feeling to be likely affected by COVID-19) predicted not only participants' affective, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes, but also the installation of a corona warning-app. While several variables affected the different dimensions of psychological distance, hypothetical and geographical distance mediated the effect of knowledge on attitudes. These results underline the role of geographical and hypothetical distance for health-related behaviors and education. For example, people will only comply with preventive measures if they feel geographically concerned by the disease, which is particularly challenging for fast-spreading global diseases such as COVID-19. Therefore, there is a need to clearly communicate the personal risks of diseases and address peoples' hypothetical distance. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02415-x.
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This study investigates how physical and psychological distance from one's surroundings may influence one's perception of connectedness with the servicescape and, ultimately, perception of value. It also examines the effect of consumers' techno-psychological differences and interaction modes on this distance–closeness relationship. The researchers develop and test a conceptual framework of how personal cognitive traits and technological intervention may alter consumers' perceived connectedness to the servicescape and influence their perceived value in different service settings. Via a quasi-experiment design in three service scenarios, this research shows a synthetical effect of contactless technology in the distancing setting that may work more effectively on high self-efficiency customers to change their perceived closeness to the servicescape and further change their evaluation of the service. The findings reveal the practical implications of social distancing for different types of consumers in service encounters during or after the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2023.
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The article reflects on the issue of online communication in Israeli schools during the pandemic. In this piece authors reflect upon the swift integration of online communication technologies in schools in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, educational authorities in Israel expressed concern over children's use of online media and were reluctant to admit online communication, and especially social media, into schools. A Director General's Circular published by the Ministry of Education in 2011, which is still officially binding, constructs the blurred boundaries between teachers, students and parents in online communication as a challenge to school hierarchies. It thus recommends that teachers use caution when publishing on social media, and instructs them to refrain from interacting with students and parents online, particularly in group contexts. This suspicion toward and abstinence from mediated communication may be seen to underlie the failure of a national online learning drill, which the Ministry of Education conducted in the first days of March 2020. Despite this failure, two weeks later the severity of the pandemic led the Ministry to shut down schools and authorize a general transition to online learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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This quantitative, nonexperimental survey was designed using a five-point Likert scale to measure the differences in the perceived importance scores for enrollment practices into nationally accredited YouTube diabetes prevention programs, or YouTube DPP, among online U.S. adult participants during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the social cognitive framework and was validated with Cronbach's alpha. G* Power analysis for alpha level = 0.05, standard power = 0.08, and the effect size = 0.25 was calculated for a target population of over 100,000. Responses (i.e., N = 258) from the COVID-19 Blood Sugar Wellness Survey were uploaded from SurveyMonkey. The perceived important scores of the participants were categorized into five social distance compliance groups. Descriptive statistics and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used and the perceived important scores between the social distance compliance groups were observed to be significantly different, F (4, 253) = 7.36, p < .001, eta2 = 0.104. Based on Tukey's post hoc test, there were higher perceived importance scores for compliant, highly compliant, and always compliant groups when compared to low compliance group scores. Also, COVID-19 mandates impacted the participant's interest to enroll into YouTube DPP when presented with face-to-face (36.8%) or online doctor referrals (22.5%), program insurance coverage (30.6%), and programs with smartphone compatibility (27.9%). Percentages below 20% were classified as of low interest. Thus, policy makers should devise program incentives for clinician referrals, insurance coverage, and smartphone applications to increase enrollment rates into nationally accredited YouTube DPP. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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As a result of the post-pandemic situation, enhancing digital heritage services has become one of the key issues for the recovery of tourism. Disruptive innovation in human–computer interaction technology has brought new opportunities for digitalization and intelligent transformation in the contemporary cultural tourism industry. Existing research on the adoption behavior of digital heritage services primarily focuses on users' assessments of behavior results. There is a considerable gap in research about the interaction and value co-creation between users and digital intelligence services and users' cognitive construction logic of digital heritage services. Following reciprocal determinism, we propose a conceptual model to deconstruct the detailed transmission path of interactive affordance and sensory affordance to digital heritage adoption. In Study 1, a lab experiment in an AI-assisted smart screen digital heritage service context revealed that interactive affordance and user adoption of digital heritage services were partially mediated by psychological distance. Findings from a between-subject online experiment in Study 2 confirmed that embodied cognition and psychological distance play a parallel intermediary role in the impact of sensory affordance on adoption. In Study 3, a lab experiment in a VR-based digital museum context further verified that information overload moderates the influence of embodied cognition on psychological distance. This research reveals the deep-bounded, rational decision-making logic of digital heritage service adoption and provides significant practical enlightenment for the optimization of the affordance experience.
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Carpooling is a sustainable, economical, and environmentally friendly solution to reduce air pollution and ease traffic congestion in urban areas. However, existing regret theories lack consideration of the heterogeneity of attribute perception in different ways and the psychological factors that affect regret, so they cannot accurately portray urban residents' carpool travel decisions and cannot provide a correct explanation of the actual carpool choice behavior. In this paper, based on the analysis of classical random regret minimization models and random regret minimization models considering heterogeneity, the concept of psychological distance is introduced to address shortcomings of the existing models and construct an improved random regret minimization model considering heterogeneity and psychological distance. The results show that the fit and explanatory effect of the improved model proposed in this paper is better than that of the other two models. The psychological distance of travel residents during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects the anticipated regret value and the willingness to carpool. The model can better describe the carpool travel choice mechanism of travelers and effectively explain the carpool travel choice behavior of travelers.
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The present article examines how disease anthropomorphism affects compliance with recommendations for preventing the disease. We find that consumers are more likely to comply with health recommendations when the disease is described in anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) terms because anthropomorphism increases psychological closeness to the disease, which increases perceived vulnerability. We demonstrate the effect of disease anthropomorphism on health compliance in seven studies with several diseases (COVID-19, breast cancer), manipulations of anthropomorphism (first person and third person; with and without an image), and participant populations (the US and China). We test the proposed pathway through psychological closeness and perceived vulnerability with sequential mediation analyses and moderation-of-process approaches, and we rule out alternative accounts based on known consequences of anthropomorphism and antecedents of health compliance. This research contributes to the theory and practice of health communication and to the growing literature on how the anthropomorphism of negative entities affects consumers' judgments and behaviors. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00891-6.
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This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer booking behavior in the peer-to-peer accommodation sector. This study used a dataset composed of 2041,966 raws containing 69,727 properties located in all 21 Italian regions in the pre- and post-COVID-19. Results show that in the pre-COVID-19 period, consumers preferred P2P accommodations with price premiums and located in rural (versus urban) areas. Although the findings reveal a preference for entire apartments over shared accommodation (i.e., room, apartment), this preference did not change significantly after COVID-19 lockdowns. The contribution of this study lies in combining psychological distance theory and signaling theory to assess P2P performance in the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods.
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Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019-related fake news consistently appears on social media. This study uses appraisal theory to analyze the impact of such rumors on individuals' emotions, motivations, and intentions to share fake news. Furthermore, the concept of psychological distance and construal level theory are used in combination with appraisal theory to compare toilet paper shortages and celebrity scandal rumors. Design/methodology/approach: Data collected from 299 Taiwanese respondents to 150 toilet paper shortage-related and 149 celebrity gossip-related questionnaires were processed using partial least squares regression and multigroup analysis. Findings: In both cases, surprise is felt most intensely. However, unlike in the celebrity fake news scenario, worry plays a prominent role in driving the altruistic sharing motivation related to the toilet paper shortage rumor. Furthermore, while emotional attributes (basic or self-conscious, concrete, or ) serve as a guide for how emotions change with psychological distance, the degree to which an emotion is relevant to the fake news context is key to its manifestation. Originality/value: This study examines the impact of individuals' emotions on their motivations and intention to share fake news, applying the appraisal theory and the psychological distance concept in a single study to fake news sharing intention. It evaluates the relationship between psychological distance and emotions, revealing that it is not absolute and need not necessarily shift according to psychological distance change;rather, the relationship is context-sensitive. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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As mobile healthcare services entered the public sight with high frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients are increasingly recognizing the effectiveness of mobile medical consultation (MMC). Earlier studies have investigated what influences continuance intention (CI) towards MMC, but few studies have scrutinized it from the perspective of patients' psychological distance. We formulated a framework to examine the psychological factors influencing CI towards MMC by integrating the information systems continuance model and psychological distance theory. The framework was validated using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach and data from 475 MMC users in China. The empirical results revealed that immediacy, telepresence, intimacy, and substitutability were significant predictors of CI, while satisfaction mediated these pathways. Pandemic-induced anxiety positively moderated the effect of immediacy on satisfaction and the effect of satisfaction on CI. Practical implementations for MMC healthcare practitioners, designers, and marketers are drawn.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Intention , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , Pandemics , Psychological Distance , Counseling , Referral and ConsultationABSTRACT
Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has posed a major threat to human life and health, and new media technologies have intensified the spread of risk perception. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the impact of risk information ground on online users' perceived health risks, and further explore the mediating role of psychological distance and the moderating role of self-efficacy. Methods: A total of 25 Internet users from different provinces in China were interviewed in-depth, NVIVO.11 was used to qualitatively analyze the interview text data and construct a theoretical model. A total of 492 interviewees were recruited in order to complete a scenario questionnaire, SPSS-27 was used to perform orthogonal experiments, generate eight combinatorial scenarios, analyze demographic data, and clean and prepare data for testing hypotheses. SmartPLS 3.0 was used to test the conceptual model using the structural equation model (SEM) of the partial least squares (PLS). Results: The analysis of the SEM model shows that all planned hypotheses (Information fluency â Information diagnosability, Information extensibility â Information diagnosability, Information diagnosability â Psychological distance, Platform interactivity â Scenario embeddedness, Network connectivity â Scenario embeddedness, Scenario embeddedness â Psychological distance, Psychological distance â Risk perception, Psychological distance â Self-efficacy â Risk perception, Information fluency â Information diagnosability â Psychological distance â Risk perception, Information extensibility â Information diagnosability â Psychological distance â Risk perception, Platform interactivity â Scenario embeddedness â Psychological distance â Risk perception, Network connectivity â Scenario embeddedness â Psychological distance â Risk perception) are confirmed. Conclusion: This study found that the information ground factors significantly affect online users' perceptions of health risks, psychological distance mediates the effect of information ground factors on risk perception, and self-efficacy negatively moderates the effect of psychological distance on risk perception.
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PurposeWhile prior research has investigated factors that predict consumers' information search behaviors as they relate to automobiles, such studies were conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the pandemic has necessitated lockdowns, social distancing, business closures and other disruptions to normal shopping activities, consumer information search behaviors have also been substantially altered as the psychological distance between consumers and marketers has increased. Thus, this study aims to examine these changes and identify patterns of search behavior for a major durable product: automobiles. Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data from before and during the pandemic, the study implements Finite Mixture Modeling to unveil latent segments of U.S. consumers' search behaviors and choices for Japanese automobiles. This analytic method enables capturing consumer unobserved heterogeneity through mixing probabilities guided by individual characteristics. These segments are determined based on consumers' information search for online and offline marketer-controlled and nonmarketer-controlled sources. FindingsThe study identifies that two segments of consumers emerge both prior to the pandemic and during the pandemic. These empirically validated findings indicate that the pandemic has led to shifts in consumers' information search behaviors for Japanese automobiles by relying more on nonmarketer-controlled sources of information. Originality/valueThis work is among the first comprehensive empirical analyses of consumer search for a major durable product by comparing pre- and during pandemic patterns. Using analytics and econometrics, the first-hand analysis findings offer meaningful implications for marketers and product managers in the automotive industry.
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The spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has decreased the willingness to choose public transport where travellers are more likely to be infected due to intensive passenger flow, in which case it is hard to attract passenger volume if the subjective well-being of travellers is not improved. However, the traditional measurement of travel evaluation may be not applicable to the context of the pandemic and it is necessary to analyse the changes in the internal mechanisms of travel well-being to avoid the loss of passengers. Based on structural equation modelling, this paper explored the internal relationship between the constructs of travel well-being and emphasised the significance of taking psychological factors into consideration in the post COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that travel satisfaction with the anti-pandemic related service quality of public transport is related to overall travel well-being, which can be used as a key part of well-being measurement scale design in the future. The results also indicate that, due to negative mood on the affective level induced by COVID-19, travel satisfaction on the cognitive level is not directly but indirectly related to travel choice behaviour through overall travel well-being. Compared to travel satisfaction, travel well-being is more extensive and covers travel satisfaction to some extent. Therefore, instead of studying travel satisfaction simply, taking travel well-being as the dependent variable to identify shortages existing in public transport will provide a more accurate perspective for policymakers in the post COVID-19 pandemic.
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Background: Social distancing has been an effective preventive measure to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, but usage is inconsistent. Behavioral science informs our understanding about preventive behaviors. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is commonly used in public health emergencies to examine the factors of engagement in preventive behaviors. Aim: The first study objectives were to utilize the TPB to evaluate the psychosocial determinants associated with intention to social distance to reduce COVID-19 transmission among undergraduate students. The second study objective was to use meta-analytic procedures to evaluate the predictive utility of the TPB's main constructs in predicting intention to social distance as a preventive behavior to reduce transmission of COVID-19 and the extent that intention predict social distancing behavior. Study 1 Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design using secondary data of 1,076 students. TPB questionnaire measured intention, past behavior, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted. Study 2 Methods: Research databases were used to find literature using relevant keywords. Random-effects meta-analytic procedures were performed on the correlations between the different TPB constructs and intention and behavior. A moderator analysis was also conducted. Study 1 Results: In Model 1, all the TPB constructs were associated with intention to social distance. The inclusion of past behavior in Model 2 indicated that past behavior, subjective norm, and attitude were associated with intention to social distance. The models did well in explaining the variances in intention. Study 2 Results: There were 8 articles included in the analysis. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were statistically significant predictors of social distance behavior. Subjective norm had the strongest association. Several moderator variables were associated with TPB constructs and intention and behavior. Conclusion: The findings support the predictive utility of the TPB to predict social distance intentions and behavior to reduce transmission of COVID-19. The findings are pertinent to at-risk environments like universities where COVID clusters can occur. Public health experts can utilize the TPB to highlight the salient factors in order to promote and sustain social distance behavior throughout the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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This article presents and tests psychological distance to science (PSYDISC) as a domain-general predictor of science skepticism. Drawing on the concept of psychological distance, PSYDISC reflects the extent to which individuals perceive science as a tangible undertaking conducted by people similar to oneself (social), with effects in the here (spatial) and now (temporal), and as useful and applicable in the real world (hypothetical distance). In six studies (two preregistered; total N = 1,630) and two countries, we developed and established the factor structure and validity of a scale measuring PSYDISC. Crucially, higher PSYDISC predicted skepticism beyond established predictors, across science domains. A final study showed that PSYDISC shapes real-world behavior (COVID-19 vaccination uptake). This work thus provides a novel tool to predict science skepticism, as well as a construct that can help to further develop a unifying framework to understand science skepticism across domains.
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The curfews imposed during the coronavirus pandemic days we are in, restrictions applied in many areas, quarantines, social distance rule, changing working style and hours have caused significant changes, especially in the life and health of women. The purpose of this review is;it is the study of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic process on the life and health of women. It was thought that the study would be useful in understanding the physical, mental, social, economic and sexual effects of the pandemic on the life and health of women, predicting the consequences and taking the necessary precautions and the subject was evaluated in the light of the findings in the literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Turkish) Icinde bulundugumuz koronavirus pandemisi gunlerinde uygulanan sokaga cikma yasaklari, bircok alanda uygulanan kisitlamalar, karantinalar, sosyal mesafe kurali, degisen calisma sekli ve saatleri ozellikle kadinin yasaminda ve sagliginda onemli degisiklere neden olmustur. Bu derlemenin amaci;koronavirus pandemi surecinin kadinin yasamina ve sagligina etkisinin arastirilmasidir. Arastirmanin pandeminin fiziksel, ruhsal, sosyal, ekonomik ve seksuel acilardan kadinin yasamina ve sagligina etkilerini anlayabilmek ve ortaya cikabilecek sonuclari ongorebilmek ve gereken onlemleri almak adina yararli olacagi dusunulmus, konu literaturdeki bulgular isiginda degerlendirilmistir. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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This community psychology project consisted of two virtual storytelling groups gathered to examine the impact of storytelling during a global pandemic. It used the public narrative methodology of Marshall Ganz placed within the context of community mental health. Each storytelling group met weekly for 8 weeks. The Sunday group had seven members drawn from Desert Palm UCC, a mid-sized Protestant Christian congregation located in Tempe, Arizona. The Monday group had four members from Desert Palm UCC and two participants from a housing program called I-Help. I-Help is a transitional housing program run by the Tempe Community Action Agency, a nonprofit social service organization connected to the City of Tempe. Desert Palm UCC has a long history of support and engagement with the I-Help program. The research project was intended to explore the impact of storytelling carried out virtually (on Zoom) during a time of social distancing that was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five factors related to personal recovery and included in the I-Help community mental health recovery program were employed to help organize the material thematically. The acronym for the five factors is CHIME, which stands for connectedness, hope, identity, meaning, and empowerment. In the final session participants were invited to reflect on whether the stories they shared had any common themes, and whether they resonated thematically with any of the CHIME components. Participants identified several common themes, including connectedness. Several participants reported feeling more connected to other group members as a result of the storytelling experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are often faced with uncertain risky choice. Risky choice will be affected by different descriptions of the event's gain or loss framework, this phenomenon is known as the framing effect. With the continuous expansion and in-depth study of frame effects in the field of risky choice, researchers have found that the are quite different in different situations. People have different interpretations of the same event at different psychological distances, and will also be affected by their own emotions. Therefore, the current study examines the common influence of task frame, spatial distance, and trait emotion on risky choice through two studies. Study 1 used a 2 (framework: gain vs. loss) × 2 (trait sentiment: high vs. low) inter-subject design, and the dependent variable is the choice of the rescue plan for the classic "Asian disease" problem. The results revealed that trait anger did not predict individuals' risky choice preferences, and high trait anxiety led individuals to be more risk-averse. The framing effect exists in risky choice, and individuals prefer risk seeking in the loss frame. Study 2 used a 2 (spatial distance: distant vs. proximal) × 2 (framework: gain vs. loss) × 2 (trait sentiment: high vs. low) three-factor inter-subject design in which the dependent variable is the choice of rescue plan. The results indicate that the framing effect also exists in risky choice, and individuals prefer risk seeking in a loss frame. High trait anxiety lead individuals to be more risk-averse, while trait anger has no significant predictive effect on risk preference. Distant spatial distance lead individuals to increase their preference for risk-seeking under the gain frame, which leads to the disappearance of the framing effect. In conclusion, trait anxiety and spatial distance have a certain degree of influence on risky choice under the framework of gain and loss.
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Climate change appears to be the ecological issue which benefits from the most attention in the literature, compared to equally alarming situations such as plastic pollution. In fact, waste management issues took a new step with the recent discovery of microplastics in human blood for the first time, as it used to be a hypothesis. Instead of separating those questions, some researchers tend to consider that a link exists between the effects of global warming and plastic degradation in the ocean. Research focusing on the construal-level theory and the psychological distance explain the lack of public interest in the environmental crisis. However, recent studies highlight the empirical support of the psychological distance instead of the CLT, especially regarding climate change, but a few studies explore the psychological distance related to plastic pollution. With that in mind, any means to reduce the perceived psychological distance regarding environmental issues such as plastic pollution might increase their sensitivity and motivation to act. Moreover, the change of habit could be induced by a new event that would disrupt someone’s daily life according to the habit discontinuity hypothesis, and the use of immersive media such as video games might be the solution. Given numerous possibilities of creation with the scenarios, gameplay, public of interest and gaming contexts, video games also influence motivation, engagement and learning ability. We can also find specific components and mechanisms from game design in media that do not focus on entertainment first but on pedagogical purpose: serious games. Thus, this study investigates how immersive media might reduce specific psychological distance dimensions and trigger emotions using an educational video game on plastic pollution, which might play a major role in changing ones’ daily habits. The research uses a qualitative method centered on semi-structured individual interviews and the experimentation of a video game named Plasticity. Results support all the propositions and show that different types of immersion might reduce each dimension of the psychological distance, which is a first, reinforcing environmental awareness and new intentions of pro-environmental behavior. Other areas of discussion are furthered explored.