Version 1
: Received: 26 April 2024 / Approved: 27 April 2024 / Online: 29 April 2024 (11:50:31 CEST)
How to cite:
Williams, C.; Rauwolf, P.; Boulter, M.; Parkinson, J. A. Concrete Decisions: How Psychological Distance Influences Willingness to Engage in Risky COVID Behavior. Preprints2024, 2024041807. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1807.v1
Williams, C.; Rauwolf, P.; Boulter, M.; Parkinson, J. A. Concrete Decisions: How Psychological Distance Influences Willingness to Engage in Risky COVID Behavior. Preprints 2024, 2024041807. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1807.v1
Williams, C.; Rauwolf, P.; Boulter, M.; Parkinson, J. A. Concrete Decisions: How Psychological Distance Influences Willingness to Engage in Risky COVID Behavior. Preprints2024, 2024041807. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1807.v1
APA Style
Williams, C., Rauwolf, P., Boulter, M., & Parkinson, J. A. (2024). Concrete Decisions: How Psychological Distance Influences Willingness to Engage in Risky COVID Behavior. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1807.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Williams, C., Matt Boulter and John A. Parkinson. 2024 "Concrete Decisions: How Psychological Distance Influences Willingness to Engage in Risky COVID Behavior" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1807.v1
Abstract
Pandemics, and other risk-related contexts, require dynamic changes in behavior as situations develop. Human behavior is influenced by both explicit (cognitive) and implicit (intuitive) factors. In this study, we used psychological distance as a lens to understand what influences our decision-making with regards to risk in the context of COVID-19. The study was based on the rationale that our relational needs are more concrete to us than the risk of the virus. First, we explored the impact of social-psychological distance on participants’ risk perceptions and behavioral willingness. As hypothesized, we found that close social relationships of agents promoted willingness to engage in risky behavior. In the second phase, we tested an intervention designed to increase the concreteness of information about virus transmission as a mechanism to mitigate the bias of social influence. We found that the concreteness intervention resulted in significantly reduced willingness to engage in risky behavior. As such, communications aimed at changing the behavior of citizens during times of increased risk or danger, should consider conceptually concrete messaging when communicating complex risk, and hence may provide a valuable tool in promoting health-related behavior.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
