Solomon Sheldon, Rostellato Daniele, Testoni Ines, Calabrese Fiorella, Biasco Guido
Psychology Department, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA.
Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2021 Mar 23;11(3):41. doi: 10.3390/bs11030041.
Exactly one year ago, between February and March 2020, the COVID-19 infection went from an epidemic confined to China to a worldwide pandemic that was particularly lethal in Italy. This study examined the media accounts during that period by analysing the representation of death-related constructs in Corriere della Sera, the most widely read newspaper in Italy. A textual and thematic analysis of articles published between period A (epidemic: 23 January-22 February 2020) and period B (pandemic: 23 February-31 March 2020) was conducted using Nvivo-11. A total of 141 articles comprising 48,524 words were collected. The most utilised words and meanings linked to COVID-19 were computed. In the rank distribution, 'China' and 'virus' were the terms most frequently used in both periods. The terms 'death' and 'dead' were completely absent in period A and appeared in the 535th position in period B. The term 'dead' was used primarily to indicate the number of deceased. From a Terror Management Theory perspective, it is possible that the minimal reference to death-related issues was a reflection of death denial and a manifestation of efforts to deny death to manage terror. These findings highlight the ambiguities and ambivalence surrounding any issue pertaining to death; on the one side, undue alarmism may provoke exaggerated reactions, such as moral panic, while on the other denial-based messages that minimise references to mortality may reduce safe behaviour during a pandemic.
整整一年前，即2020年2月至3月期间，新冠病毒感染从局限于中国的疫情演变成一场全球大流行，在意大利造成了尤为严重的致死情况。本研究通过分析意大利阅读量最大的报纸《晚邮报》中与死亡相关概念的呈现方式，审视了那段时期的媒体报道。使用Nvivo - 11对在A期（疫情期：2020年1月23日至2月22日）和B期（大流行期：2020年2月23日至3月31日）发表的文章进行了文本和主题分析。共收集了141篇文章，总计48524个单词。计算了与新冠病毒相关的最常用词汇和含义。在排名分布中，“中国”和“病毒”是两个时期最常使用的词汇。“死亡”和“死者”这两个词在A期完全没有出现，在B期出现在第535位。“死者”一词主要用于表示死亡人数。从恐惧管理理论的角度来看，对与死亡相关问题的极少提及可能反映了对死亡的否认，以及为应对恐惧而否认死亡的努力表现。这些发现凸显了围绕任何与死亡相关问题的模糊性和矛盾性；一方面，过度的危言耸听可能引发夸大的反应，如道德恐慌，而另一方面，尽量减少对死亡率提及的基于否认的信息可能会降低大流行期间的安全行为。
