The effect of risk framing on support for restrictive government policy regarding the COVID-19 outbreak

This confirmatory research investigates the influence of risk framing of COVID-19 on support for restrictive government policy based on two web survey experiments in Russia. Using 2x2 factorial design, we estimated two main effects–factors of risk severity (low vs. high) and object at risk (individual losses vs. losses to others). First, focusing on higher risks had a positive effect on support for the government’s restrictive policy. Second, focusing on the losses for others did not produce stronger support for the restrictive policy compared to focusing on personal losses. However, we found a positive moderation effect of such prosocial values as universalism and benevolence. We found that those with prosocial values had a stronger positive effect in the “losses for others” condition and were more willing to support government restrictive policy when others were included. The effects found in our experimental study reveal both positive and negative aspects in risk communication during the pandemic, which may have a great and long-term impact on trust, attitudes, and behavior.

Reframing Risk in the Wake of COVID-19

Concerns about infectious disease in mega-shelters following hurricanes should be a top priority. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the challenge of implementing standard evacuation and sheltering procedures for hurricanes during an outbreak of a respiratory disease and the lessons learned from the 2020 hurricane season must be applied to future response efforts. In this article, we examine the current risk framing for hurricane preparedness and response utilizing Prospect Theory. We also examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated this traditional framing and offer a new framework for which to provide adequate sheltering following a hurricane, while minimizing the risk of respiratory disease to those seeking shelter. We argue that such a framework is necessary to protect American citizens in future hurricane seasons.

Covid-19 on Twitter: an analysis of risk communication with visuals

Background: In a pandemic, when timely and clear communication is important, visuals on social media can help citizens quickly find and understand health risk information. In recognition of visuality and social media’s value during a crisis, we investigated popular Covid-19 risk communication with visuals posted on the platform Twitter. Looking at tweet authors, their use of graphics, the preventative messages, and risk framing, our objective was to determine how visual communication on Twitter promoted WHO Covid-19 health recommendations.Methods: We sourced Twitter’s 500 most retweeted Covid-19 messages for each month from January - October 2020 using Crowdbreaks. Included tweets had to have visuals, be in English, come from verified accounts, and contain at least one of the keywords ‘covid19', 'coronavirus', 'corona', or 'covid’. Following a retrospective approach, we then performed a qualitative content analysis of the tweets’ text and visuals. Results: Most of the tweets analysed came from influencers - individuals with many followers (51%), followed by media companies (30%), and health and government institutions (15%). At the start of the pandemic, the latter two were most prevalent. Analysis of visual formats showed that photographs were most common, and the majority of tweets combined them with other graphic types (55%). 68% of tweets had text in their visual, 42% of all visuals were animated, and 26% included a URL. ‘Stay home’ and ‘wear a mask’ were the most frequently communicated Covid-19 preventative measures. 70% of tweets used risk framing (emphasising health gains or loss), and 32% had tones of critique.Conclusion: This study found that the most retweeted Covid-19 preventative measures with visuals mostly came from individuals, showing that health and government organisations were not alone in promoting preventative measures on Twitter. This stresses the important role individuals play in the dissemination of information using social media during a health crisis. The finding that more tweets used health loss framing, often combined with the emotive medium of photographs, raises concerns about persuasive tactics feeding on fear. Future research is needed to better understand this approach's consequences and its impact on public perceptions and behaviours.

Selling Effective Violence Prevention Policies to the Public: A Nationally Representative Framing Experiment

Objectives. After years of decreasing public punitiveness and declining crime rates, politicians are seeking evidence-based crime policies to reduce mass incarceration without increasing crime. One such policy that has been implemented in several U.S. cities is the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship (OPF), which incentivizes conformity and program participation by providing monetary stipends to individuals at risk of violent offending, thereby simultaneously reducing violence and incarceration. Yet, there is no evidence about public support for such policies. Methods. Using a nationally representative survey experiment, we examine public support for violence prevention stipends. We employ a referendum-style, contingent valuation design to measure the impact of tax increases versus tax savings on public opinion, and we randomize message framing that emphasizes the stipend program’s risky versus protective features.Results. Both tax changes and risk framing matter. The public is willing to vote for stipends when they reduce taxes and are framed as a method to save lives. Most Republicans oppose stipends under all conditions.Conclusions. Reformers can increase public support for effective, non-punitive policies that target violent offenders by emphasizing both their economic and social benefits. However, such policies are likely to face consistent opposition from certain portions of the public.

New models and taxonomies to understand and address the commercial determinants of health

Current models of the determinants of health risk framing public health problems and solutions in ways that obscure the role that the private sector, in particular large transnational companies, play in shaping population health. This presentation will propose a new conceptual model of the commercial determinants of health which recognises the commercial sector's direct, indirect, upstream and downstream influences on health. It will also present emerging evidence-based taxonomies that draw together evidence on the key corporate practices which stymie the implementation of effective public health policies. In so doing, the presentation will explore how we move from understanding to addressing the commercial determinants of health.

From Saving to Losing: A Cross-National Examination of Disease Risk Framing and its Cultural Correlates

While the framing effect widely popularized by Tversky and Kahneman (1981) has been replicated numerous times, the robustness of the effect cross-nationally has been limited. Relying on a large dataset spanning 49 countries with ample sample size (N = 102,830), we examine the robustness of the framing effect using a variation of the Asian Disease Scenario across cultures. Results indicate that the framing effect, in which respondents are more likely to take the risk-averse option when framed positively than negatively, replicated in 100% of the countries examined with large effect sizes across countries (MCohen’s h = 0.616). Country-level correlation analyses and multilevel mixed effects logistic modeling also indicated that societal values related to collectivism were associated with taking riskier options in both the positive and negative framing conditions. Collectivism was also significantly related to smaller framing effects. Implications and future directions are discussed.