Texas Tech University, USA.
Northern Illinois University, USA.
Public Underst Sci. 2021 Apr;30(3):240-257. doi: 10.1177/0963662521989191. Epub 2021 Jan 30.
This study examined the influences of perceived distance to communicator on the effects of aggressive style (i.e. personal attacks and intense languages) in communicating scientific issues such as COVID-19 to the public. With a multi-site experiment ( = 464), we found that aggression led to a heightened violation of expected social norm regarding communication styles. However, the interpretation of violation varied depending on the individual's perceived distance to the communicator. Close distance articulated the urgency and severity of COVID-19 risks conveyed with aggression, which further increased compliance with the message. Far distance perception amplified aggression's negative influence on writer likeability. The findings showed that aggressive communication may generate positive outcomes when dealing with public understanding of scientific issues such as COVID-19, but communicators need to build a closer connection with their audience.
本研究考察了感知到的与传播者的距离对攻击性风格（例如人身攻击和激烈的语言）在向公众传播 COVID-19 等科学问题时的影响。通过一项多地点实验（n=464），我们发现攻击性会导致对有关沟通方式的预期社会规范的更高程度的违反。然而，违反的解释取决于个人对传播者的感知距离。近距离表达了带有攻击性的 COVID-19 风险传达的紧迫性和严重性，这进一步增加了对信息的遵守。远距离感知放大了攻击性对作家吸引力的负面影响。研究结果表明，在处理公众对 COVID-19 等科学问题的理解时，攻击性沟通可能会产生积极的结果，但传播者需要与受众建立更紧密的联系。
