Application of Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model to the Health Preventive Behavior: How Risk Susceptibility and Political Identity affect Vaccination

초록

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of collective efforts in promoting health preventive behaviors is accentuated, bringing sociopolitical factors into focus. To fully capture psychological drivers of health preventive behaviors in risk situations, anchored on the Model of Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP; Griffin, Dunwoody, and Neuwirth 1999), in retrospect of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we explored whether and how individuals’ vaccination behaviors are predicted by RISP-related variables (information insufficiency, affective responses, perceived information gathering capacity, subjective norms) and one’s political identity. Findings from a survey of 705 adult participants in the U.S. showed that the effects of one’s risk information insufficiency on his or her information seeking and affective response regarding the pandemic, which is also related to their risk susceptibility perceptions. More importantly, the impact of political identity on one’s perceived risk susceptibility, and its association with vaccination behaviors are also identified. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for the development of effective health communication strategies for preventive health behaviors.

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