Warning 'Don't spread' versus 'Don't be a spreader' to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is threatening not only health but also life worldwide. It is important to encourage citizens to voluntarily practise infection-prevention (IP) behaviours such as social distancing and self-restraint. Previous research on social cognition suggested that emphasizing self-identity is key to changing a person's behaviour. The present study investigated whether reminders that highlight self-identity would be effective in changing intention and behaviour related to the COVID-19 outbreak, and hypothesized that those who read reminders highlighting self-identity (Don't be a spreader) would change IP intention and behaviour better than those who read 'Don't spread' or no reminder. We conducted a two-wave survey of the same participants with a one-we

SUBMITTER: Yonemitsu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7540770 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature