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Flu, risks, and videotape: escalating fear and avoidance.

Heather Rosoff1, Richard S John, Fynnwin Prager

  • 1Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. rosoff@usc.edu

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Public response to biological disasters, including emotions and behaviors, intensifies over time. Proximity to the event and unknown origins heighten risk perception and avoidance, unlike known causes like accidents or attacks.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Risk Communication

Background:

  • Risk perception research traditionally examines static emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses.
  • Limited research explores the dynamic changes in these variables during evolving crises.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how negative affect, threat beliefs, perceived risk, and intended avoidance behavior evolve during an escalating biological disaster.
  • To examine the influence of disaster origin (terrorist, accident, unknown) and respondent proximity on these dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Scenario simulation methodology using a 15-day video news report series to immerse participants.
  • Tracking emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses across discrete unfolding episodes of the disaster.
  • Manipulating causal origin and geographic proximity (local vs. distant) in a sample of 600 participants.

Main Results:

  • Public reactions to the flu epidemic escalated alongside the disaster's progression.
  • Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses remained consistent across participants over time.
  • Respondents closer to the epidemic exhibited more rapid and intense reactions compared to distant ones.
  • Unknown flu releases were perceived as riskier, leading to greater avoidance than terrorist or accidental releases.

Conclusions:

  • Public risk perception and behavioral intentions dynamically change during biological disasters.
  • Proximity and uncertainty significantly amplify public response intensity and escalation.
  • Understanding these dynamics is crucial for effective public health communication and crisis management.