A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance
During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health guidance (e.g., regarding the use of non-medical masks) changed over time. Although many revisions were a result of gains in scientific understanding, we nonetheless hypothesized that making changes in guidance salient would negatively affect evaluations o...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Judgment and Decision Making |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500008548/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797702549435842560 |
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| author | Jeremy D. Gretton Ethan A. Meyers Alexander C. Walker Jonathan A. Fugelsang Derek J. Koehler |
| author_facet | Jeremy D. Gretton Ethan A. Meyers Alexander C. Walker Jonathan A. Fugelsang Derek J. Koehler |
| author_sort | Jeremy D. Gretton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health guidance (e.g., regarding the use of non-medical masks) changed over time. Although many revisions were a result of gains in scientific understanding, we nonetheless hypothesized that making changes in guidance salient would negatively affect evaluations of experts and health-protective intentions. In Study 1 (N = 300), we demonstrate that describing COVID-19 guidance in terms of inconsistency (versus consistency) leads people to perceive scientists and public health authorities less favorably (e.g., as less expert). For participants in Canada (n = 190), though not the U.S. (n = 110), making guidance change salient also reduced intentions to download a contact tracing app. In Study 2 (N = 1399), we show that a brief forewarning intervention mitigates detrimental effects of changes in guidance. In the absence of forewarning, emphasizing inconsistency harmed judgments of public health authorities and reduced health-protective intentions, but forewarning eliminated this effect. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:51:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-36d015b9836b4ce1bec60e93620e8456 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1930-2975 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:51:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Judgment and Decision Making |
| spelling | doaj.art-36d015b9836b4ce1bec60e93620e84562023-09-03T09:20:27ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752021-11-01161549157410.1017/S1930297500008548A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidanceJeremy D. Gretton0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2417-4035Ethan A. Meyers1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6171-6780Alexander C. Walker2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1431-6770Jonathan A. Fugelsang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6342-7023Derek J. Koehler4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3596-7882University of WaterlooUniversity of WaterlooUniversity of WaterlooUniversity of WaterlooUniversity of Waterloo, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health guidance (e.g., regarding the use of non-medical masks) changed over time. Although many revisions were a result of gains in scientific understanding, we nonetheless hypothesized that making changes in guidance salient would negatively affect evaluations of experts and health-protective intentions. In Study 1 (N = 300), we demonstrate that describing COVID-19 guidance in terms of inconsistency (versus consistency) leads people to perceive scientists and public health authorities less favorably (e.g., as less expert). For participants in Canada (n = 190), though not the U.S. (n = 110), making guidance change salient also reduced intentions to download a contact tracing app. In Study 2 (N = 1399), we show that a brief forewarning intervention mitigates detrimental effects of changes in guidance. In the absence of forewarning, emphasizing inconsistency harmed judgments of public health authorities and reduced health-protective intentions, but forewarning eliminated this effect.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500008548/type/journal_articleCOVID-19forewarninghealth communicationscience communicationtrust |
| spellingShingle | Jeremy D. Gretton Ethan A. Meyers Alexander C. Walker Jonathan A. Fugelsang Derek J. Koehler A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance Judgment and Decision Making COVID-19 forewarning health communication science communication trust |
| title | A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance |
| title_full | A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance |
| title_fullStr | A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance |
| title_full_unstemmed | A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance |
| title_short | A brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in COVID-19 guidance |
| title_sort | brief forewarning intervention overcomes negative effects of salient changes in covid 19 guidance |
| topic | COVID-19 forewarning health communication science communication trust |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500008548/type/journal_article |
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