North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA.
Int J Psychol. 2022 Feb;57(1):87-95. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12785. Epub 2021 Jun 4.
Communications about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) often employ metaphors, which can help people understand complex issues. For example, public health messages may focus on "fighting" the disease, attempting to rouse people to action by instilling a sense of urgency. In contrast, change-focused metaphors may foster growth mindsets and self-efficacy-cornerstones of well-being and action. We randomly assigned participants to read one of two articles-either an article about coronavirus that focused on fighting the war or an article that highlighted the possibility of change. In Study 1 (N = 426), participants who read the war, relative to the change, message reported lower growth mindsets and self-efficacy and these in turn, predicted lower well-being and weaker intentions to engage in health behaviours. In Study 2, (N = 702), we sought to replicate findings and included a no treatment control. We failed to replicate the effects of message condition, although both messages predicted greater self-efficacy compared to the control. Similar to Study 1, growth mindsets predicted intentions to engage in recommended health behaviours and self-efficacy predicted both well-being and action. We discuss theoretical reasons for discrepancies as well as practical applications for developing public health communications.
关于 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的交流经常使用隐喻，这可以帮助人们理解复杂的问题。例如，公共卫生信息可能侧重于“对抗”这种疾病，通过灌输紧迫感来促使人们采取行动。相比之下，以改变为重点的隐喻可以培养成长心态和自我效能感——这是幸福和行动的基石。我们随机分配参与者阅读两篇文章中的一篇——要么是一篇强调抗击战争的冠状病毒文章，要么是一篇强调改变可能性的文章。在研究 1（N=426）中，与改变信息相比，阅读战争信息的参与者报告的成长心态和自我效能感较低，而这些反过来又预示着幸福感较低，参与健康行为的意愿较弱。在研究 2 中（N=702），我们试图复制研究结果，并纳入了无治疗对照组。尽管与对照组相比，这两种信息都预示着自我效能感的提高，但我们未能复制信息条件的影响。与研究 1 相似，成长心态预测了参与推荐的健康行为的意愿，而自我效能感预测了幸福感和行动。我们讨论了理论上的差异原因以及开发公共卫生交流的实际应用。
