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How does the disclosure of investigations affect the public's fear on the epidemic?
- 1 School of Media, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, 150025, China
- 2 School of Music and Recording, Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, China
- 3 School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Hubei, 430072, China
- 4 The College of Chinese Language and Literature, Hunan University, Changsha, 410006, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the adoption of the epidemiological investigation, the disclosure of epidemiological investigation has also aroused public fear and even caused online violence. Therefore, it is essential to explore the root causes of mass panic to reduce public fear fundamentally. Based on the extended parallel process model, this paper systematically studies the effectiveness of epidemiological investigation disclosure on the public fear of the epidemic and puts forward reasonable suggestions for maintaining public opinion health and reducing public opinion violence. This paper collected 126 questionnaires what investigated samples from four dimensions, Susceptibility, severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy, to explore the relationship between these four variables and public fear. Through correlation analysis and regression analysis of questionnaire data, the higher the perceived threat and perceived efficacy are, the higher the public fear degree is, and the more willing people are to accept the prevention and control suggestions. In the evaluation process, Susceptibility and self-efficacy are positively associated with the level of public fear, while severity and response efficacy had no significant effect on it. The results showed that relevant science popularization should be strengthened, perceived threat and perceived efficacy should be improved, and the balance between the precision of the epidemiological investigation and public privacy should be maintained.
Keywords
public fear, epidemiological investigation, perceived threat, extended parallel process model, perceived efficacy.
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Cite this article
Cui,S.;Gao,K.;Li,Y.;Yang,C. (2023). How does the disclosure of investigations affect the public's fear on the epidemic?. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,3,16-25.
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Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries (ICEIPI 2022), Part II
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