Exploring the roles of fear and powerlessness in the relationship between perceived risk of the COVID-19 pandemic and information-avoidance behavior

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Kunying Zhang¹  Naifu Zhang³  Jie Wang⁴  Jie Jiang³  Sihua Xu³ 

[1] School of Education, Huaibei Normal University;School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University;College of International Business, Shanghai International Studies University;The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

关键词: Fear;    powerlessness;    perceived epidemic risk;    information-avoidance behavior;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1005142

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The current investigation was conducted to determine the correlation between the perceived epidemic risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and information-avoidance behavior and the mediating role of fear and powerlessness during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the conceptual model, where the perceived risk of the COVID-19 pandemic was considered a predictor, fear and powerlessness as mediating variables, and information-avoidance behavior as the outcome. A total of 557 Chinese respondents with COVID-19 treated in modular hospitals were recruited and completed a questionnaire containing scales of the perceived epidemic risk of COVID-19, fear, powerlessness, and information-avoidance behavior. The results yielded from the Structural equation modeling analysis indicated a significant and positive association between the perceived epidemic risk of COVID-19 and information-avoidance behaviors. Powerlessness acted as the mediator between the perceived epidemic risk of COVID-19 and information-avoidance behavior. The perceived epidemic risk of COVID-19 influenced information-avoidance behavior through feelings of fear and powerlessness in turn. These results provide a more comprehensive understanding of why and how the perceived epidemic risk of COVID-19 predicts information-avoidance behavior.

【 授权许可】

CC BY