Abstract
Just over one year after COVID-19 reached the United States, the number of confirmed cases exceeds 26 million. The Centers for Disease Control has consistently recommended frequent handwashing, avoiding crowds, wearing masks, and staying home as much as possible to prevent the spread of the virus. Additionally, 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico issued stay-at-home orders in the spring of 2020. Length of stay-at-home orders varied and states have also diverged on policies that mandate masks in public places. Through the lens of signaling theory and the emotion as social information model, the current research sheds light on how governors' differing policies and communication have influenced COVID-19 behavior and outcomes. Governor press briefings between January 7, 2020, and January 1, 2021, were run through the linguistic inquiry and word count software. Results indicated that states with longer stay-at-home orders and a stronger mask mandate reported fewer COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, negative emotion in governor press briefings was related to fewer cases and this relationship was mediated by individuals spending less time away from home for an extended period (3–6 h). Practical implications and guidance for future public health messaging, including messaging aimed at bolstering vaccination efforts, are discussed.
Highlights
More than one year after the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first reached the United States, there have been 26,157,993 confirmed cases (Dong et al, 2020; as of January 30, 2021)
Hypothesis 3 posited that the length of stay-at-home orders would be linked to fewer cases of COVID-19 and Hypothesis 4 posited that having a mask mandate would be linked to fewer cases of COVID-19
The current study explored the effects of public behavior on COVID-19 outcomes and how state-wide policy influenced public behavior in the right way to curb COVID-19 cases
Summary
More than one year after the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first reached the United States, there have been 26,157,993 confirmed cases (Dong et al, 2020; as of January 30, 2021). It is a good time to reflect on how policy and public health communication has influenced public behavior and adherence (or lack thereof) to safety guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study is first focused on determining what behaviors have been linked to greater cases of COVID-19 and how state-wide policy has influenced those behaviors. Signaling perspective in conjunction with the emotion as social information (EASI) model was used to explore theoretical links between leaders’ speeches and outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mediation model was tested whereby negative emotion in speeches influences public behavior and public behavior, in turn, affects the number of COVID-19 cases in each state
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