Curșeu Petru L, Coman Andra D, Fodor Oana C, Rațiu Lucia, Panchenko Anton
Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Department of Organization, Open Universiteit, 6419 AT Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Jan 25;9(2):122. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020122.
Our study evaluates the role of exposure to COVID-19 messaging in negativity towards COVID-19 and the intentions to engage in protective behaviors. Building on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we derive a mediation model and test it in a sample of 737 participants (556 Romanians and 181 Kazakhs). The exposure to general information concerning COVID-19 positively predicts negative attitudes, negative emotions and the emergence of subjective norms in relation to COVID-19, as well as the likelihood of engaging in protective behavioral intentions. The exposure to humoristic communication, however, diluted the positive association between exposure to general information and negative attitudes, as well as negative emotions. The results support the overall predictions of the TPB and report positive associations between negative attitudes towards COVID-19, subjective norms and behavioral control on the one hand, and protective behavioral intentions on the other. Negative emotions significantly predict the likelihood of engaging in protective behaviors. Our results also show that older respondents tend to develop more negative attitudes towards COVID-19, yet they do not report stronger intentions to engage in protective behaviors than younger respondents. An important emergent result shows that time lapse seems to increase negativity towards COVID-19, yet it does not directly increase the likelihood of engaging in protective behaviors. Implications for public health communication related to COVID-19 are discussed.
我们的研究评估了接触新冠疫情信息在对新冠疫情的负面态度以及采取保护行为意图方面所起的作用。基于计划行为理论（TPB），我们推导了一个中介模型，并在737名参与者（556名罗马尼亚人和181名哈萨克人）的样本中对其进行了测试。接触有关新冠疫情的一般信息正向预测了对新冠疫情的负面态度、负面情绪以及主观规范的出现，还有采取保护行为意图的可能性。然而，接触幽默的传播内容削弱了接触一般信息与负面态度以及负面情绪之间的正向关联。研究结果支持了计划行为理论的总体预测，并报告了一方面对新冠疫情的负面态度、主观规范和行为控制与另一方面保护行为意图之间的正向关联。负面情绪显著预测了采取保护行为的可能性。我们的研究结果还表明，年长的受访者往往对新冠疫情产生更负面的态度，但他们报告的采取保护行为的意图并不比年轻受访者更强。一个重要的新出现的结果表明，时间推移似乎会增加对新冠疫情的负面态度，但它并不会直接增加采取保护行为的可能性。文中讨论了与新冠疫情相关的公共卫生传播的意义。
