Priming close social contact protective behaviors enhances protective social norms perceptions, protection views, and self-protective behaviors during disasters.

ABSTRACT: Many people do not make choices that minimize risk in the face of health and environmental threats. Using pre-registered analyses, we tested whether a risk communication that primed perceptions about health-protective preparation and behavior of close social contacts promoted protection views and protective behaviors. From December 10-24, 2020, we fielded a 2 (threat vignette: wildfire or COVID-19) x 3 (social contact prime: control, inaction, or action) experiment to a representative sample of 1,108 California residents facing increased COVID-19 cases/deaths, who had recently experienced the most destructive wildfire season in California history. Outcome variables were protection views and protective behavior (i.e., information seeking). Across threat conditions, stronger social norms, ef

SUBMITTER: Wong-Parodi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9233988 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature