Département of Psychologie, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland.
Public Underst Sci. 2011 Jul;20(4):461-76. doi: 10.1177/0963662510393605.
Lay perceptions of collectives (e.g., groups, organizations, countries) implicated in the 2009 H1N1 outbreak were studied. Collectives serve symbolic functions to help laypersons make sense of the uncertainty involved in a disease outbreak. We argue that lay representations are dramatized, featuring characters like heroes, villains and victims. In interviews conducted soon after the outbreak, 47 Swiss respondents discussed the risk posed by H1N1, its origins and effects, and protective measures. Countries were the most frequent collectives mentioned. Poor, underdeveloped countries were depicted as victims, albeit ambivalently, as they were viewed as partly responsible for their own plight. Experts (physicians, researchers) and political and health authorities were depicted as heroes. Two villains emerged: the media (viewed as fear mongering or as a puppet serving powerful interests) and private corporations (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry). Laypersons' framing of disease threat diverges substantially from official perspectives.
研究了公众对 2009 年 H1N1 爆发所涉及的集体（如团体、组织、国家）的看法。集体具有象征功能，可以帮助非专业人士理解疾病爆发所涉及的不确定性。我们认为，公众的代表性是被夸大的，具有英雄、恶棍和受害者等特征。在疫情爆发后不久进行的访谈中，47 名瑞士受访者讨论了 H1N1 带来的风险、其起源和影响，以及保护措施。国家是最常被提及的集体。贫穷、欠发达国家被描绘成受害者，尽管有些矛盾，但他们被认为对自己的困境负有部分责任。专家（医生、研究人员）和政治及卫生当局被描绘成英雄。出现了两个恶棍：媒体（被视为制造恐慌或为强大利益服务的傀儡）和私营公司（如制药业）。公众对疾病威胁的框架与官方观点有很大的不同。
