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Avoiding Covid‐19 risk information in the United States: The role of attitudes, norms, affect, social dominance orientations, and perceived trustworthiness of scientists
Author(s) -
Wang Wan,
Atkinson Lucy,
Kahlor Lee Ann,
Jamar Patrick,
Lim Hayoung Sally
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/risa.13991
Subject(s) - dominance (genetics) , social psychology , skepticism , psychology , affect (linguistics) , credibility , social dominance orientation , risk perception , trustworthiness , context (archaeology) , covid-19 , political science , perception , politics , medicine , philosophy , authoritarianism , law , chemistry , biochemistry , communication , epistemology , democracy , neuroscience , gene , pathology , biology , paleontology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
This study seeks guidance from the planned risk information avoidance model to explore drivers of risk information avoidance in the context of COVID‐19. Data were collected early during the pandemic. Among our most notable results is that participants who are more oriented toward social dominance and are more skeptical of scientists’ credibility have (1) more supportive attitudes toward risk information avoidance and (2) feel social pressure to avoid risk information. The findings of this study highlight how the role of skepticism in science and intergroup ideologies, such as social dominance, can have important implications for how people learn about health‐related information, even in times of heightened crisis.