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U.S. Political Partisanship and COVID-19: Risk Information Seeking and Prevention Behaviors.
Won-Ki Moon1, Lucy Atkinson1, Lee Ann Kahlor1
1Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Texas at Austin.
Health Communication
|April 28, 2021
Summary
Many Americans avoid COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Partisanship influences information seeking, with conservative media use linked to avoidance and liberal media use to engagement.
Area of Science:
- Health Communication
- Behavioral Science
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic presents significant health risks, yet many Americans do not adopt recommended preventive behaviors.
- Understanding the drivers of these behaviors is crucial, especially given the politicization of the pandemic in the U.S.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explain the phenomenon of non-adherence to preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To integrate the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model with the Theory of Planned Behavior.
- To investigate the influence of media partisanship on information seeking and decision-making regarding COVID-19.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a theoretical model merging the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior.
- Examined information seeking patterns based on media partisanship.
- Analyzed the relationship between media consumption, cognitive structures, and COVID-19 decision-making.
Main Results:
- Identified two distinct pathways from information seeking to decision-making.
- Conservative media consumption showed a direct association with avoiding preventive behaviors.
- Liberal media consumption demonstrated an indirect association with engaging in preventive behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Media partisanship significantly shapes cognitive processes related to COVID-19 risk and decision-making.
- Different media diets lead to divergent outcomes in adopting preventive health behaviors.
- Findings enhance understanding of health behavior drivers during politicized public health crises.
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