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Updated: Nov 7, 2025

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
Disease, perceived infectability and threat reactivity: A COVID-19 study
L Safra1, A Sijilmassi2, C Chevallier3
1Sciences Po, CEVIPOF, CNRS UMR 7048, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Using a two-wave online experiment, we investigate whether COVID-19 exposure changes participants' threat-detection threshold. Threat reactivity was measured in a signal detection task among 277 British adults who also reported how vulnerable they felt to infectious diseases. Participants' data were then matched to the local number of confirmed COVID-19 cases announced by the NHS every day. We found that participants who perceive themselves as more likely to catch infectious diseases displayed higher threat reactivity in response to increased COVID-19 cases.
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