Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens
During the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, people often failed to adopt behaviors that could have stopped, or at least slowed down, the spread of this deadly disease. We offer cognitive explanations for these decisions, based on some of the most common heuristics and biases that are known to influenc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/2/39 |
| _version_ | 1797482651617067008 |
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| author | Raffaella Misuraca Ursina Teuscher Costanza Scaffidi Abbate Francesco Ceresia Michele Roccella Lucia Parisi Luigi Vetri Silvana Miceli |
| author_facet | Raffaella Misuraca Ursina Teuscher Costanza Scaffidi Abbate Francesco Ceresia Michele Roccella Lucia Parisi Luigi Vetri Silvana Miceli |
| author_sort | Raffaella Misuraca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, people often failed to adopt behaviors that could have stopped, or at least slowed down, the spread of this deadly disease. We offer cognitive explanations for these decisions, based on some of the most common heuristics and biases that are known to influence human judgment and decision-making, especially under conditions of high uncertainty. Our analysis concludes with the following recommendations: policymakers can and should take advantage of this established science, in order to communicate more effectively and increase the likelihood that people choose responsible actions in a public health crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:36:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1dfd5c553ed9432d91d9dd49763bd81f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:36:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1dfd5c553ed9432d91d9dd49763bd81f2023-11-23T18:47:56ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2022-02-011223910.3390/bs12020039Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases LensRaffaella Misuraca0Ursina Teuscher1Costanza Scaffidi Abbate2Francesco Ceresia3Michele Roccella4Lucia Parisi5Luigi Vetri6Silvana Miceli7Department of Political Science and International Relations (DEMS), University of Palermo, 90134 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207, USADepartment of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Political Science and International Relations (DEMS), University of Palermo, 90134 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyOASI, Research Institute-IRCCS, 94018 Troina, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDuring the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, people often failed to adopt behaviors that could have stopped, or at least slowed down, the spread of this deadly disease. We offer cognitive explanations for these decisions, based on some of the most common heuristics and biases that are known to influence human judgment and decision-making, especially under conditions of high uncertainty. Our analysis concludes with the following recommendations: policymakers can and should take advantage of this established science, in order to communicate more effectively and increase the likelihood that people choose responsible actions in a public health crisis.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/2/39heuristicsbiasesCOVID-19decision-making |
| spellingShingle | Raffaella Misuraca Ursina Teuscher Costanza Scaffidi Abbate Francesco Ceresia Michele Roccella Lucia Parisi Luigi Vetri Silvana Miceli Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens Behavioral Sciences heuristics biases COVID-19 decision-making |
| title | Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens |
| title_full | Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens |
| title_fullStr | Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens |
| title_short | Can We Do Better Next Time? Italians’ Response to the COVID-19 Emergency through a Heuristics and Biases Lens |
| title_sort | can we do better next time italians response to the covid 19 emergency through a heuristics and biases lens |
| topic | heuristics biases COVID-19 decision-making |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/2/39 |
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