A new study conducted by a team of researchers, including University of Colorado Denver Business School associate professor Jiban Khuntia, PhD, found while social distancing is an effective preventative measure in the fight against COVID-19, there are significant variations being observed in how and why individuals follow the restrictions. The reasons ascribed in the study are: (1) citizen’s perception that government is doing good by responding to COVID situation, (2) citizen’s perception of government business reopening efforts are good, (3) messages sent to citizens through different information sources, (4) specific social media use and (5) levels of knowledge around COVID.
Looking at three different countries—the United States, Kuwait, and South Korea—researchers found government response efforts to COVID-19 heavily influenced self-adherence to social distancing measures. According to data collected, overall, people believe they are following social distancing recommendations, but when asked if others adhering, the numbers decrease, as shown in the table below.
According to researchers, governments who instilled fear instead of providing important, knowledgeable information, are less likely to be trusted. This fear can lead to panic and limited adherence to policies implemented later. For example, in the United States, some citizens are hesitant to follow masks orders because they believe it will take away their freedom. Khuntia believes governments should have stated early-on that mask-wearing does not infringe on your freedom, but rather saves lives.
“The sole argument of this research is that the government should have given citizens a much better informative story, channelized through ‘more personal’ broadcasting and media sources than it was handled,” says Khuntia. “Rather than focus on political ramifications, and media-driven ‘sensational breaking stories’, a positive, well put-together message should have been formed.”
Read more at University of Colorado Denver
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