Heterogeneous Risk Perception amid the Outbreak of COVID-19 in China: Implications for Economic Confidence.
Appl Psychol Health Well Being
; 12(4): 1000-1018, 2020 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-740226
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has elicited concerns about public fear and economic fallout. The current study takes a person-oriented approach to identify the unique response patterns that underlie three risk perception components (likelihood, severity, and protection efficacy) of COVID-19, with information sources as precursors and economic confidence as outcomes.METHODS:
A total of 1,074 Chinese citizens participated in a national online survey in early February 2020.RESULTS:
A latent profile analysis showed that participants exhibited one of three classes Risk Neutrals (49.9%; moderate in all components), Risk Deniers (14.3%; low likelihood, low severity, and high protection efficacy), or Risk Exaggerators (35.8%; high likelihood, high severity, and low protection efficacy). Subsequent analyses showed that reliance on unofficial sources (gossip and news spread among friends; WeChat) positively correlated with membership in the Risk Exaggerators class. In turn, belonging in the Risk Exaggerators class correlated with the lowest short-term (but not long-term) economic confidence.CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggests that exploring the heterogeneity of the public risk perception might help the government to design differentiated risk communication strategies during the COVID-19 outbreak.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Socioeconomic Factors
/
Risk Assessment
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Appl Psychol Health Well Being
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Aphw.12222
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