COVID-19 SPECIAL FORUM ARTICLE Psychological Insights Into Information Processing During Times of Crisis

ABSTRACT

The diffusion of accurate knowledge about diseases in the population is of critical concern to public health officials. This is because an informed public should be in a position to make better decisions, especially when these decisions impact other individuals, as is the case during pandemics. This article is aimed at presenting current research on the acquisition and propagation of medical knowledge in social networks under conditions of high perceived risk of viral infection. I will review recent psychological findings to show how anxiety associated with high perceived risk of infection could (a) negatively impact information processing, (b) activate motivational frames of processing, and (c) exacerbate the adoption of misinformation. Finally, I make specific recommendations for how to maximize accurate information dissemination and minimize the spread of misinformation.