Abstract
The study examined the psychological drivers of information-seeking behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Employing a two-wave (from April 16, 2020, to April 27, 2020) survey design ( N = 381), the study confirmed that both risk perceptions and uncertainty were important antecedents to information seeking and that their effects were linked to emotional appraisals of the risk situation. Findings revealed nuanced relationships between these two constructs and emotional appraisals. Danger appraisal was positively associated with perceived susceptibility and susceptibility uncertainty but negatively related to severity uncertainty; hope appraisal depended on the interaction between uncertainty and risk perceptions. Implications of the study findings on risk and health communication were discussed.
Highlights
The study examined the psychological drivers of information-seeking behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak
The major interest of this study is in their combined effects, we proposed Hypothesis 1 (H1) and Hypothesis 2 (H2) to see if their stand-alone effects would replicate in the context of COVID-19
The present research contributes to literature by reconceptualizing uncertainty as a metacognition of risk perceptions (Petty et al, 2007)
Summary
The study examined the psychological drivers of information-seeking behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Our goal in the present study is to understand the psychological drivers of the information-seeking behaviors during COVID-19. Risk perceptions and uncertainty have been frequently discussed as important antecedents to information-seeking behaviors (Brashers, 2001; Griffin et al, 1999), their combined effects have been underexplored.
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