The psychological typhoon eye effect in responses to terrorism

A conceptual replication of the Psychological Typhoon Eye effect in the aftermath of the Petrinja earthquake in Croatia

Background

The Psychological Typhoon Eye (PTE) effect refers to the observation that those living in the epicenters of natural disasters or public emergencies exhibit lower levels of psychological distress than those living further away. The effect has been described in the aftermath of multiple public emergencies, including the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. However, despite its potential importance for emergency relieve, this phenomenon has received little research attention and requires further replication. The goals of this study were to replicate the PTE effect using both the original items used in prior research and using the validated Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS).

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted following an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale that occurred in December 2020 in Petrinja, Croatia. The sample consisted of 316 participants living in Croatia at the time of the earthquake. Questionnaires were administered through an online survey, including the DASS, the items used in previous research, and questionnaires measuring general and earthquake-specific coping. Exposure to the earthquake was operationalized as the degree of devastation participants had experienced (i.e., the degree of structural damage to their home as assessed by local authorities). In line with previous work, we tested for an inverse relationship between the experienced level of devastation and the different measures of psychological distress (i.e., the items used in previous work and the DASS).

Results

We found no evidence for the PTE effect in our study. Instead, we observed a ripple effect, whereby those most affected by the earthquake showed the most psychological distress. We argue that the ripple effect, rather than the PTE effect, should be seen as the default psychological response pattern to natural disasters and emergencies.

The spatial effect of digital economy on public psychological resilience during the diffusive crisis

Purpose

To explore whether the digital economy has spatial effects and spatial heterogeneity on public psychological resilience during the diffusive crisis and to analyze the specific impact mechanisms.

Methods

This study is based on the Baidu Search Index from 2011 to 2020 and the provincial panel data of 30 provinces in China. It constructs measures of public psychological resilience and digital economy development level and employs the spatial Durbin model to empirically analyze the relationship between the two, revealing their spatial impact.

Results

(1) Public psychological resilience exhibits a spatial distribution characterized by high values in the west, medium values in the central region, and low values in the east, while the digital economy development level shows a "U"-shaped spatial structure with high levels in the eastern and western regions and low levels in the middle; (2) The digital economy development level in a local region has a negative effect on the public psychological resilience of that region, while the digital economy development level in surrounding regions has a positive spatial spillover effect on the local region's public psychological resilience.

Conclusion

It is essential to strengthen crisis management, focus on the coordinated development of the digital economy in different regions, share the benefits of digital society development more equitably and broadly, and further improve the psychological resilience of regions under the context of digital economy development.

An Agenda-Setting Account for Psychological Typhoon Eye Effect on Responses to the Outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan

During the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in 2020, we conducted a nationwide survey of 8170 respondents from 31 provinces/municipalities in China via Sojump to examine the relationship between the distance to respondents' city of residence from Wuhan and their safety concerns and risk perception of the epidemic that occurred in Wuhan City. We found that (1) the farther (psychologically or physically) people were from Wuhan, the more concerned they were with the safety of the epidemic risk in Wuhan, which we dubbed the psychological typhoon eye (PTE) effect on responses to the outbreak of COVID-19; (2) agenda setting can provide a principled account for such effect: the risk information proportion mediated the PTE effect. The theoretical and managerial implications for the PTE effect and public opinion disposal were discussed, and agenda setting was identified to be responsible for the preventable overestimated risk perception.

How Health-Related Misinformation Spreads Across the Internet: Evidence for the "Typhoon Eye" Effect

Online health-related misinformation has become a major problem in society and in-depth research is needed to understand its propagation patterns and underlying mechanisms. This study proposes a psychological typhoon eye effect to understand how health-related misinformation spreads during the pandemic using two national studies. In Study 1, we collected online search data from the United States and China to explore the relationship between the physical distance from the epicenter and the spread of health-related misinformation. Two common pieces of health-related misinformation were examined: "Microwaves kill coronavirus" in the United States and "Taking a hot bath can prevent against COVID-19" in China. Our results indicated a "typhoon eye effect" in the spread of two actual pieces of health-related misinformation using online data from the United States and China. In Study 2, we fabricated a piece of health-related misinformation, "Wash Clothes with Salt Water to Block Infection," and measured the spread behavior and perceived credibility of the misinformation. Again, we observed a typhoon eye effect on the spread behavior as well as the perceived credibility of health-related misinformation among people with limited education. In addition, based on the stimulus-organism-response theory, perceived credibility could serve as a mediator in the relationship between physical distance from the epicenter and the spread of health-related misinformation. Our results highlight the importance of psychological approaches to understanding the propagation patterns of health-related misinformation. The present findings provide a new perspective for development of prevention and control strategies to reduce the spread of health-related misinformation during pandemics.

Bull's eye or typhoon eye? Psychological distress and associated factors in Wuhan and surrounding areas during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant psychological consequences among the public, especially for people in the epicenter. This study examined the 'bull's eye' model by comparing the level of psychological distress and the effect of different stressors in Wuhan (the original epicenter) with that in the surrounding areas in Hubei Province during the pandemic. Data were obtained from a cross-national survey of 10 478 respondents between the ages of 18 and 80 years in Hubei Province during the peak of the pandemic. Results of the ordinary least squares regression models showed that Wuhan residents experienced more psychological distress than those in the surrounding areas. Social and economic problems caused by the pandemic, risk exposure, perceived discrimination, and information-seeking behaviors were positively associated with distress. Social assistance was negatively associated with distress. Findings were consistent with the bull's eye model by revealing both a higher level of psychological distress and a stronger effect of stressors among the Wuhan residents than with those in low-risk areas. Thus, policymakers and psychological workers should provide adequate psychological services in high-risk areas. Lowering risk exposure, reducing discrimination against people in the epicenter, and improving information quality are essential to alleviate their psychological distress.

Which Information Frame is Best for Reporting News on the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Online Questionnaire Study in China

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has received broad public attention and has been subject to social media discussion since the beginning of 2020. Previous research has demonstrated that framing could influence perception and behaviors of audience members in the mass media. The question addressed in this paper concerns which information frame is best for reporting negative news (eg, deaths) and positive news (eg, recoveries or cures) related to the outbreak of COVID-19.

METHODS

During the Spring Festival holidays of 2020 in China, we investigated a sample of 8170 participants' risk perceptions and emotional responses to the pandemic, and their willingness to forward updates when the information is presented in different frames by using a 2 (domain: living [good news] vs dying [bad news]) × 2 (count: absolute vs relative) × 2 (population base: excluding population base vs including population base) × 2 (content: text-only vs text-plus-graphic) mixed factorial design, with the first factor being a within-subjects factor and the last three being between-subjects factors.

RESULTS

Results indicated that (1) participants were more willing to forward good news (eg, cures) than bad news (eg, deaths); (2) when reporting bad news, the inclusion of the "population base" was effective in minimizing negative emotions; (3) when reporting good news, excluding the "population base" was more effective than including it in order to maximize positive emotions; (4) a text-plus-graphic frame worked better than a text-only frame in lowering the level of risk perception and negative emotions.

DISCUSSION

This study is relevant to how individuals and organizations communicate information about this viral pandemic and the probable impact of this news on the general public.