Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
8-2021
Publisher
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Source Publication
AEJMC Annual Convention
Abstract
Although the Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) model recognizes that people seek and process risk information in various ways and for various motives, no research, to date, has examined the model beyond accuracy motive. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to advance the model by examining (1) the antecedents that induce individuals’ accuracy- and defense-motivated information insufficiency and (2) the effect of a broader array of the RISP’s perceived hazard characteristics and affective responses. To do so, we used the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study because COVID-19 is a newly emergent infectious disease with highly politicized, controversial components, which potentially prompts people to protect themselves from threats against their physical well-being and self-definitional beliefs. From late December 2020 to early February 2021, we collected 960 survey responses from a probabilistic panel of adults residing in Hong Kong. Results showed that people who express higher levels of fear and experience greater normative influence are likely to have a greater sense for more risk information to make judgments to protect themselves from the physical harms caused by the COVID-19 virus as well as to protect their self-definitional beliefs from threats surrounding the pandemic. Our findings also shed light on how risk judgment, personal control, and attribution to the behavior of others may influence accuracyand defense-motivated information insufficiency. The evidence supports that an individual’s greater sense for more risk information can concurrently stem from more than one motive. The practical implications of risk communication were discussed.
Recommended Citation
Fung, Timothy K.F.; Lai, Po Yan; Griffin, Robert J.; and Dunwoody, Sharon, "Examining Antecedents to Accuracy- and Defense-Motivated Information Insufficiency in the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2021). College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications. 672.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/672
Comments
Author version. "Examining Antecedents to Accuracy- and Defense-Motivated Information Insufficiency in the COVID-19 Pandemic." A Paper presented to Communicating Health, Science, Environment, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, annual convention. Virtual Conference, August 4-7, 2021 LINK. ©2021 The Author. Used with permission.