The Impact of Information Sources on Covid-19 Knowledge Accumulation and Vaccination Intention

Abstract

During a global health crisis, people are exposed to vast amounts of information from a variety of sources. Here, we assessed which information sources could increase COVID- 19 knowledge by endorsing accurate information and refuting inaccurate information. A nationally representative sample of 1060 Cloud Research participants first rated the accuracy of a set of statements about COVID-19 (belief pre-test). Then, they were randomly assigned to one of 10 between-subjects conditions for which we varied the source that provided belief-relevant information: a political leader (President Trump or Vice-President Biden), a health authority (Doctor Fauci or the CDC), an anecdote (of a Democrat or a Republican), a large group of prior participants (Democrats, Republicans, or No affiliation), or no source (Control Condition). Finally, they rated the accuracy of the initial set of statements again (belief post-test). We found that, compared to the Control Condition, participants increased in COVID-19 knowledge by changing their beliefs to align with health authorities and with all three large groups of prior participants, and were not influenced by political leaders or anecdotes. Information source did not interact with participants’ political affiliation, suggesting that Democrats and Republicans are similarly affected by COVID-19 information sources.

Your health vs. my liberty: Philosophical beliefs dominated reflection and identifiable victim effects when predicting public health recommendation compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…All of the present conditions included, "Public health experts recommend…". Some find that people align their attitudes about the COVID19 pandemic with public health experts regardless of other factors such as political affiliation (Vlasceanu & Coman, 2020). So identifiable victim effects may be detected only when recommendations come from less trustworthy sources.…”

Political and Non-Political Belief Change Elicits Behavioral Change

“…A third variable that might interact with the hereby explored effect is the source identity (Chung, Fink, Kaplowitz, 2008;Slater & Rouner, 1996;Vlasceanu & Coman, 2020c). Prior work found that people are most influenced by others whom they share a common identity (Abrams, Wetherell, Cochrane, Hogg, & Turner, 1990;Centola 2011).…”

“…Conversely, a Republican may be more receptive to evidence incorporation when watching Fox News compared to CNN (Haidt, Graham, & Joseph, 2009). However, recent work has shown that belief change by way of evidence incorporation from various sources along the ideological spectrum does not interact with individuals' own political ideology (Vlasceanu & Coman, 2020c). Thus, empirically establishing whether the source identity interacts with the effect of beliefs on behavior is a future direction of high interest.…”