In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries
Künye
Dorison CA, Lerner JS, Heller BH, Rothman AJ, Kawachi II, Wang K, Rees VW, Gill BP, Gibbs N, Ebersole CR, Vally Z, Tajchman Z, Zsido AN, Zrimsek M, Chen Z, Ziano I, Gialitaki Z, Ceary CD, Lin Y, Kunisato Y, Yamada Y, Xiao Q, Jiang X, Du X, Yao E, Wilson JP, Cyrus-Lai W, Jimenez-Leal W, Law W, Collins WM, Richard KL, Vranka M, Ankushev V, Schei V, Križanić V, Kadreva VH, Adoric VC, Tran US, Yeung SK, Hassan W, Houston R, Lima TJS, Ostermann T, Frizzo T, Sverdrup TE, House T, Gill T, Fedotov M, Paltrow T, Jernsäther T, Koptjevskaja-Tamm M, Hostler TJ, Ishii T, Szaszi B, Adamus S, Suter L, Habib S, Studzinska A, Stojanovska D, Janssen SMJ, Stieger S, Schulenberg SE, Tatachari S, Azouaghe S, Sorokowski P, Sorokowska A, Song X, Lewis SC, Sinkolova S, Grigoryev D, Drexler SM, Daches S, Geniole SN, Vračar S, Massoni S, Zorjan S, Sarıoğuz E, Izquierdo SM, Alves SG, Pöntinen S, Solas SÁ, Ordoñez-Riaño S, Očovaj SB, Onie S, Lins S, Çoksan S, Sacakli A, Ruiz-Fernández S, Geiger SJ, FatahModares S, Walczak RB, Betlehem R, Vilar R, Cárcamo R, Ross RM, McCarthy R, Ballantyne T, Westgate EC, Afhami R, Ren D, Monteiro RP, Reips UD, Reggev N, Calin-Jageman RJ, Pourafshari R, Oliveira R, Nedelcheva-Datsova M, Rahal RM, Ribeiro RR, Radtke T, Searston R, Habte R, Zdybek P, Chen SC, Maturan PLG, Perillo JT, Isager PM, Kačmár P, Macapagal PM, Szwed P, Hanel PHP, Forbes PAG, Arriaga P, Paris B, Papachristopoulos K, Correa PS, Kácha O, Bernardo M, Campos O, Bravo ON, Galindo-Caballero OJ, Ogbonnaya CE, Bialobrzeska O, Kiselnikova N, Simonovic N, Cohen N, Nock NL, Johannes N, Albayrak-Aydemir N, Say N, Torunsky N, Van Doren N, Sunami N, Rachev NR, Majeed NM, Schmidt ND, Nadif K, Corral-Frías NS, Ouherrou N, Pantazi M, Lucas MY, Vasilev MR, Ortiz MV, Butt MM, Kabir M, Muda R, Tejada Rivera MDCM, Sirota M, Seehuus M, Parzuchowski M, Toro M, Hricova M, Maldonado MA, Marszalek M, Karekla M, Mioni G, Bosma MJ, Westerlund M, Vdovic M, Bialek M, Silan MA, Anne M, Misiak M, Grinberg M, Capizzi M, Espinoza Barría MF, Kurfali MA, Mensink MC, Harutyunyan M, Khosla M, Korbmacher M, Adamkovič M, Ribeiro MFF, Terskova M, Hruška M, Martončik M, Voracek M, Čadek M, Frías-Armenta M, Kowal M, Topor M, Roczniewska M, Oosterlinck M, Kohlová MB, Paruzel-Czachura M, Romanova M, Papadatou-Pastou M, Lund ML, Antoniadi M, Jones MV, Ortiz MS, Manavalan M, Muminov A, Kossowska M, Friedemann M, Wielgus M, Varella MAC, Colloff MF, Bradford M, Vaughn LA, Eudave L, Vieira L, Pineda LMS, Pérez LC, Lazarevic LB, Jaremka LM, Kushnir E, Anton-Boicuk L, de Holanda Coelho GL, Ahlgren L, Levitan CA, Micheli L, Volz L, Stojanovska M, Boucher L, Samojlenko L, Delgado LGJ, Kaliska L, Warmelink L, Rojas-Berscia LM, Yu K, Wachowicz J, Desai K, Barzykowski K, Kozma L, Evans K, Kirgizova K, Agesin BE, Koehn MA, Wolfe K, Korobova T, Klevjer K, van Schie K, Vezirian K, Damnjanović K, Thommesen KK, Schmidt K, Filip K, Grzech K, Hoyer K, Moon K, Rana K, Janjić K, Suchow JW, Kielińska J, Cruz Vásquez JE, Beitner J, Vargas-Nieto JC, Roxas JCT, Taber J, Urriago-Rayo J, Pavlacic JM, Bavolar J, Soto JA, Olofsson JK, Vilsmeier JK, Messerschmidt J, Czamanski-Cohen J, Boudesseul J, Lee JM, Kamburidis J, Zickfeld J, Miranda JF, Verharen JPH, Hristova E, Beshears JE, Đorđević JM, Bosch J, Valentova JV, Antfolk J, Berkessel JB, Schrötter J, Urban J, Röer JP, Norton JO, Silva JR, Pickering JS, Vintr J, Uttley J, Kunst JR, Ndukaihe ILG, Iyer A, Vilares I, Ivanov A, Ropovik I, Sula I, Sarieva I, Metin-Orta I, Prusova I, Pinto I, Bozdoc AI, Almeida IAT, Pit IL, Dalgar I, Zakharov I, Arinze AI, Ihaya K, Stephen ID, Gjoneska B, Brohmer H, Flowe H, Godbersen H, Kocalar HE, Hedgebeth MV, Chuan-Peng H, Sharifian M, Manley H, Akkas H, Hajdu N, Azab H, Kaminski G, Nilsonne G, Anjum G, Travaglino GA, Feldman G, Pfuhl G, Czarnek G, Marcu GM, Hofer G, Banik G, Adetula GA, Bijlstra G, Verbruggen F, Kung FYH, Foroni F, Singer G, Muchembled F, Azevedo F, Mosannenzadeh F, Marinov E, Štrukelj E, Etebari Z, Baskin E, Garcia EOL, Musser E, van Steenkiste IMM, Ahn ER, Pronizius E, Jackson EA, Manunta E, Agadullina E, Šakan D, Dursun P, Dujols O, Dubrov D, Willis M, Tümer M, Beaudry JL, Popović D, Dunleavy D, Djamai I, Krupić D, Vega D, Du H, Mola D, Davis WE, Holford DL, Lewis DMG, Vaidis DC, Ozery DH, Ricaurte DZ, Storage D, Sousa D, Alvarez DS, Rosa AD, Krupić D, Marko D, Moreau D, Reeck C, Correia RC, Whitt CM, Lamm C, Solorzano CS, von Bastian CC, Sutherland CA, Overkott C, Aberson CL, Wang C, Karashiali C, Noone C, Chiu F, Picciocchi C, Karaarslan C, Cellini N, Esteban-Serna C, Reyna C, Batres C, Li R, Grano C, Carpentier J, Tamnes CK, Fu CHY, Ishkhanyan B, Bylinina L, Jaeger B, Bundt C, Allred TB, Bokkour A, Bogatyreva N, Chopik WJ, Antazo B, Behzadnia B, Becker M, Cocco B, Chou WL, Hubena B, Žuro B, Aczel B, Baklanova E, Bai H, Balci BB, Babinčák P, Dixson BJW, Mokady A, Kappes HB, Atari M, Szala A, Szabelska A, Aruta JJB, Domurat A, Arinze NC, Modena A, Adiguzel A, Monajem A, Arabi KAE, Özdoğru AA, Olaya Torres AJ, Theodoropoulou A, Jurković AP, Kassianos AP, Findor A, Hartanto A, Thibault Landry A, Ferreira A, Santos AC, De la Rosa-Gomez A, Gourdon-Kanhukamwe A, Todsen AL, Karababa A, Janak A, Bran A, Tullett AM, Kuzminska AO, Krafnick AJ, Urooj A, Khaoudi A, Ahmed A, Groyecka-Bernard A, Askelund AD, Adetula A, Belaus A, Charyate AC, Wichman AL, Stoyanova A, Greenburgh A, Thomas AG, Arvanitis A, Forscher PS, Mallik PR, Primbs MA, Miller JK, Moshontz H, Urry HL, IJzerman H, Basnight-Brown DM, Chartier CR, Buchanan EM, Coles NA. In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries. Affect Sci. 2022 Sep 26:1-26. doi: 10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36185503; PMCID: PMC9510728.Özet
The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimen- tally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical
answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
