“Human or not?” The Effect of Using Different Types of Anthropomorphic Virus on Sense of Fear and Behavior Intention: The Moderating Effect of Regulatory Focus

Abstract

<p>Covid-19在短時間內透過口沫傳染迅速傳播導致了許多國家經濟大亂、恐慌並引起了人民的恐慌。病毒帶來的威脅性與高風險傳染使得人心惶惶更加恐懼且公衛宣導效果不彰。本研究欲以病毒外觀擬人化與人類外觀擬人化探討不同類型的擬人化會如何對恐懼感以及行為意圖產生影響，同時探討調節焦點對病毒擬人化之恐懼感影響。本研究採用實驗法進行，病毒擬人化 (病毒外觀擬人化vs人類外觀擬人化)之單因子實驗設計，有效樣本為191份，干擾變數調節焦點為量表檢測調節焦點類型。結果為人類外觀擬人化較容易引起高度恐懼感且對於行為意圖會有較顯著之影響。最後當自我調節焦點為促進型焦點，人類外觀擬人化會引起較高程度之恐懼感則與本研究之預期走向相反。以上結果期許可以用於未來公衛宣導以及學術研究上能有進一步之探討上有所幫助。</p> <p> </p><p>In a short period, Covid-19 rapidly spread through droplet transmission, causing economic turmoil and panic in many countries, leading to widespread fear among the public. The threatening and highly contagious nature of the virus intensified people’s anxiety, and public health campaigns showed limited effectiveness. This study aims to explore how different types of anthropomorphism, the appearance with human traits and the appearance with virus traits, impact sense of fear and behavioral intentions. Additionally, the study investigates the moderating effect of regulatory focus on the fear induced by anthropomorphizing the virus. The research adopts a single-factor experimental design (virus appearance: appearance with human traits vs. appearance with virus traits). The study includes 191 valid samples, with regulatory focus as the moderating variable, measured by a scale to identify the type of regulatory focus. Results indicate that human anthropomorphism is more likely to evoke a high level of sense of fear and significantly influence behavioral intentions. Unexpectedly, when the regulatory focus is promotion-oriented, human anthropomorphism causes a higher level of fear, contrary to the anticipated direction of the study. These findings are expected to contribute to future public health campaigns and academic research by providing insights for further exploration.</p> <p> </p>