Residential Location and Psychological Distance in Americans’ Risk Views and Behavioral Intentions Regarding Zika Virus

Abstract

Two 2017 experiments with a U.S. national opportunity sample tested effects of location, psychological distance (PD), and exposure to location-related information on Americans' Zika risk views and behavioral intentions. Location-distance from mosquito transmission of the virus in Florida and Texas; residence within states with 100+ Zika infections; residence within potential mosquito vector ranges-had small, inconsistent effects. Hazard proximity weakly enhanced personal risk judgments and concern about Zika transmission locally. It also increased psychological proximity, and intentions of mosquito control, avoiding travel to Zika-infected areas, and practicing safe sex. PD-particularly social and geographical distance, followed by temporal distance, with few effects for uncertainty-modestly and inconsistently decreased risk views and intentions. Exposure to location-related information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website-naming states with 100+ Zika cases; maps of potential mosquito vector habitat-increased risk views and psychological closeness, but not intentions; maps had slightly stronger if inconsistent effects versus prevalence information. Structural equation modeling (SEM) of a location > PD > risk views > intention path explained modest variance in intentions. This varied in degree and kind (e.g., which location measures were significant) across behaviors, and between pre- and postinformation exposure analyses. These results suggest need for both theoretical and measurement advances regarding effects of location and PD on risk views and behavior. PD mediates location effects on risk views. Online background information, like that used here, will not enhance protective behavior without explicitly focused communication and perhaps higher objective risk.

Americans’ Views of Voluntary Protective Actions Against Zika Infection: Conceptual and Measurement Issues

“…Prior factor analyses of all five intentions found mosquito control intentions loaded on the same factor (Johnson, ), but their low correlation ( r = 0.46, p < 0.0005) justified separate analyses here.…”

“…Effects of alternative location and psychological distance measures differed across pre‐ and postinformation analyses. Respondents’ exposure to locational information from the CDC website exerted no further influence on results (Johnson, ).…”

“…Perceived stakeholder attributes in prior PADM studies have focused on trust, responsibility to manage the hazard, and knowledge (e.g., Arlikatti et al., ). Here, a question probed trust in the CDC's prospective advice about protective actions, as an attribute more pertinent to behavioral intentions than the general trust measure used earlier (Johnson, ). Few mainland Americans were likely directly exposed to CDC's Zika advice during this period, hence the prospective‐advice emphasis.…”

Cross‐Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission

“…Despite this, it appears local transmission was a pivotal event that strengthened the relationship between psychological constructs and knowledge of Zika. This suggests there is not a direct connection between frequency of media coverage and the generation of beliefs, but rather something about the increase in perceived risk, proximity, and occurrence of the event that shifted factual information gathering and drove the significant relationships seen in knowledge Sample 2 and the decreasing associations seen between conspiracy Sample 1 and conspiracy Sample 2 (Johnson, ). Further exploration is needed to understand the specific types of information seeking (sources, channels, and content) that occurs at different time points in an epidemic.…”

“…Local transmission of Zika in Miami‐Dade County, Florida was a pivotal event for the United States during the Zika epidemic. Physical proximity to a health threat like Zika is associated with increased perceived risk and concern (Johnson, ) and the content and frequency of Zika coverage in the United States shifted after local transmission. Specifically, there was a relatively greater emphasis on messages to heighten perceived risk and highlighting factual information about Zika prior to local transmission, and a relatively greater emphasis on governmental efforts to control Zika and the controversies surrounding Zika prevention and response efforts after local transmission (Sell et al., ).…”