Do it for others! The role of family and national group social belongingness in engaging with COVID-19 preventive health behaviors

Motivating COVID-19 Vaccination through Persuasive Communication: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Vaccination is a vital defense against COVID-19 infections and outbreaks, yet vaccine hesitancy poses a significant threat to pandemic response and recovery. We conducted a systematic review of published randomized controlled trials (N = 47) assessing the persuasive effects of COVID-19 communication on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Individual vs. collective appeals and gain vs. loss frames are among the most frequently assessed message features, but they generally do not make a difference in persuasion. Normative messages that highlight higher (vs. lower) prevalence of vaccine acceptance are more persuasive. Message sources overall have limited impact on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, but sources that have a shared identity with the message receivers tend to be persuasive. More engaging message channels such as interactive chatbots and videos are promising communication tools but are generally under-utilized and under-studied. Compared to no communication or irrelevant communication, COVID-19 vaccine messages generally have a small advantage in increasing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Messages that include 1) vaccine safety and/or efficacy information; 2) collective appeals combined with embarrassment appeals; and 3) political leaders' vaccine endorsement are among the most effective messaging strategies. There is no evidence of any backfire effects of COVID-19 vaccine messages. We discuss the implications of our findings for persuasive message design in pandemic vaccine communication.

Predicting vaccination hesitancy: The role of basic needs satisfaction and institutional trust

Autonomous motivation is considered a powerful driver of health behaviour, but less is known about the specific roles played by basic needs. Drawing on the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research examined basic needs as a motivational determinant of vaccination. We hypothesized that satisfaction of basic needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) has both a direct and an indirect effect (through trust in science and government) on vaccine hesitancy. Two studies (Study 1: N = 968 French and British; Study 2, pre-registered: N = 716 Americans) tested our hypotheses and compared vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals using multigroup structural equation models. We found positive direct (in both studies) and indirect (in Study 1) effects of autonomy satisfaction on vaccine acceptance. In contrast, competence satisfaction was directly and indirectly, via science mistrust, related to vaccine hesitancy, particularly among non-vaccinated people. Competence satisfaction also indirectly reduced the intention to vaccinate in both studies. We found no impact of relatedness. Complementing previous work on self-determination theory, our research demonstrates the importance of considering the distinct roles of basic needs. Moreover, we highlight that increasing autonomy and science trust may be an efficient strategy to improve vaccine acceptance and vaccination, even among reluctant individuals.

Modeling the Relationship Between Perceived Descriptive Norms and Willingness to Practice COVID-19 Preventative Behaviors: A Test of the Mediation and Moderation Mechanisms in the Theory of Normative Social Behavior

Social norm has been found to impact compliance with COVID-19 preventative behaviors, including handwashing, wearing a face mask, social distancing, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. There is, however, a limited understanding of the social norm influence mechanisms and its boundary condition in the context of COVID-19. Guided by the theory of normative social behaviors (TNSB), this study conducted an online survey (N = 336) to examine whether perceived injunctive norms (PIN), outcome expectation (OE), group identity (GID), group orientation (GO), and cultural tightness-looseness (CTL) can moderate and/or mediate the relationship between perceived descriptive norms (PDN) and behavioral intentions (BI) to perform COVID-19 preventative behaviors in the United States. Results showed that whereas OE mediated the PDN-BI relationship to enact all four focal behaviors, PIN mediated the PDN-BI relationship for social distancing, wearing a face mask, and cleaning and disinfecting. However, inconsistent with the predictions, all five moderators (i.e. PIN, OE, GO, GID, and CTL) attenuated, instead of strengthening, the PDN-BI relationships for particular preventative behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Effective health communication depends on the interaction of message source and content: two experiments on adherence to COVID-19 measures in Türkiye

OBJECTIVE

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, authorities recommended preventive measures to reduce infection rates. However, adherence to calls varied between individuals and across cultures. To determine the characteristics of effective health communication, we investigated three key features: message source, content, and audience.

METHODS

Using a pre-test and two experiments, we tested how message content (emphasizing personal or social benefit), audience (individual differences), message source (scientists or state officials), and their interaction influence adherence to preventive measures. Using fliers advocating preventive measures, Experiment 1 investigated the effects of message content and examined the moderator role of individual differences. Experiment 2 presented the messages using news articles and manipulated sources.

RESULTS

Study 1 found decreasing adherence over time, with no significant impact from message content or individual differences. Study 2 found messages emphasizing 'protect yourself' and 'protect your country' to increase intentions for adherence to preventive measures. It also revealed an interaction between message source and content whereby messages emphasizing personal benefit were more effective when they came from healthcare professionals than from state officials. However, message source and content did not affect vaccination intentions or donations for vaccine research.

CONCLUSION

Effective health communication requires simultaneous consideration of message source and content.

Priming congruence and COVID-19 vaccination intention: a mediation analysis

BACKGROUND

This study took place at the height of the fifth wave of COVID-19 in France, coinciding with stigmatizing communication toward the unvaccinated. We hypothesized that adherence to this communication would facilitate or inhibit the effects of priming on vaccination intention, depending on whether the priming included a dimension of connection to others.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

In a convenience online French sample (N = 1800, M age = 26.30), vaccination intention was asked after love priming, no love/prejudice priming, materialism priming, or a control condition. Participants also reported their adherence to restrictive measures, i.e., media control, vaccination pass, and mandatory vaccination.

RESULTS

Vaccination intention was higher in the no love/prejudice and materialism conditions than in the love and control conditions. Adherence to restrictive measures mediated the effect of prejudice or materialism priming on intention to get vaccinated.

CONCLUSIONS

Implications of these results are discussed in light of the socially situated cognition perspective and the congruence of (a) a societal context of communication toward the vaccine and the unvaccinated, (b) the participant's degree of adherence to that communication, (c) the theme of priming, whether or not related to feeling connected to others. Implications of materialism priming are discussed, and the effect of commitment on intention to get vaccinated.

Self-esteem influences the willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behavior and persuasion efficacy

RATIONALE

Behaviors such as hand-washing and vaccination save human lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Yet, people differ widely in their willingness to engage in them. This investigation examines whether people's willingness to protect themselves physically from contracting coronavirus depends on their self-esteem. Based on self-verification theory, we propose that people who hold negative self-views are less motivated to protect their health which reduces their willingness to engage in recommended preventive measures such as mask-wearing and social-distancing.

OBJECTIVE

We set out to test (i) whether self-esteem predicts people's willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors, (ii) whether this relationship is due to variance in motivation to protect one's health (as well as alternative mechanisms), and (iii) whether health messages can more successfully persuade low self-esteem people to follow preventive measures by framing those behaviors around protecting the health of others (vs. oneself).

METHODS

Four studies were conducted with U.S. and German residents. In Study 1, we examine the association between self-esteem, willingness to engage in self-protection behavior, health motivation, and several alternative accounts. In Study 2, we manipulate state self-esteem, and in Studies 3 and 4, we vary the target of COVID-19 prevention behaviors (self vs. other).

RESULTS

People with chronic or temporarily induced low self-esteem report a lower willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors because they lack motivation to protect their health. Varying the protection target of preventive behaviors (self vs. others) interacts with self-esteem: Low self-esteem people are more willing to follow preventive measures (e.g., vaccination) when they are framed as protecting others (vs. oneself).

CONCLUSIONS

Self-esteem impacts people's behavior during a global pandemic and needs to be considered when designing health communications. Public health messages can increase compliance among individuals with lower self-esteem by framing prevention behaviors as a way to protect the health of others.

Perceived coercion, perceived pressures and procedural justice arising from global lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review

This aim of this scoping review is to map what is known about perceived coercion, perceived pressures and procedural justice within the context of the general population's experience of 'lockdowns' imposed by governments worldwide in response to the increased transmission of COVID-19. Arksey & O'Malley's (2005) framework for conducting scoping reviews was chosen. A sensitive search strategy was devised and conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science using the following search terms: (adherence OR acceptance OR agreement OR trust OR distrust OR compliance OR willing*) OR (perceived coerc* OR percept* coerc* OR pressure OR force OR influence OR control OR threat OR justice) AND (lockdown) AND (COVID OR SARS-CoV-2 OR COVID-19). The database search initially produced 41,628 articles to screen. A total of 40 articles were included in this review and the following five themes were identified from the studies: perceived acceptability and willingness to adhere to lockdown; perceived control during lockdown; perceived pressures arising from lockdown; perceived threat of sanction from others and the procedural (in)justice of lockdown. Our synthesis suggests that i) individuals experienced an initial willingness and tolerance of lockdown that lessened over time as perceptions of personal control decreased; ii) that social influences may pressure individuals to follow or break lockdown rules; and iii) that justifiability and proportionality together with individuals' perceptions of harm from COVID-19 may impact the extent to which individuals adhere to lockdown. Furthermore, the review found an absence of information regarding specific individual characteristics and circumstances that increase the likelihood of experiencing perceived coercion and its related constructs and highlights a need for a better understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic factors affecting perceptions of, and adherence to, lockdown.

I dream of socializing, sports, and serenity: Imagining a positive future-vaccinated self is associated with better attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are attempting to vaccinate a large proportion of their adult population against the virus. While many people hurried to receive the vaccine, vaccination rates then started stagnating and governments are searching for solutions to motivate remaining citizens to receive the vaccine. Previous studies show that imagining oneself in the future can motivate health prevention behaviors, but our study is the first to use a future selves paradigm to study vaccination motivators. In two mixed methods studies we examine the effects of imagining of a future-vaccinated self (FVS) on vaccine attitudes, where participants were asked to think about what their life would be like once they had received the COVID-19 vaccine. In Study 1 (n = 114), we coded the most important categories of FVS. Several FVS were identified and related to increased social and leisure activities, reduced negative emotion and societal constraints, possible side effects of the vaccine, and societal changes. In Study 2 (n = 113), we used a 2 × 2 design in which participants' reflections on their FVS were guided or open and visualized from a first- or third-person perspective. The guided condition produced greater acceptance of the vaccine, and the first-person perspective produced greater behavioral intentions to be vaccinated. We discuss the effectiveness of future selves interventions for promoting vaccination in different societal contexts.

Individual and group level risk factors in preventive health and panic buying behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic in India

The present research explored individual and group level risk factors in preventive health and panic buying behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, COVID-19 anxiety, and personal identity were considered individual-level risk factors. Group based identities such as family, religious groups, and identification with one's nation were considered as group level risk factors. Standardized scales have been used to measure all the constructs under study. Data were collected electronically from 305 Indian respondents. Hierarchical regression analysis in SPSS Version 22 was used to test the hypotheses. Results showed that personal identity and identification with the nation predicted preventive health behavior. Panic buying behavior was predicted by the location of the respondents (containment versus non-containment zones), perceived severity, and one's personal identity. The interplay of individual and social factors is reflective of both individual and collective agencies in the adoption of preventive health behaviors, while only individual-level factors led to panic buying behavior. The findings of this study have implications for curbing, managing, and reinforcing desirable and non-desirable behavior during the present pandemic as well as in the future as well.