Safety & Health News

Considering Others’ Mental States Causally Increases Feelings of Social Bonding and Information Sharing

10.31234/osf.io/nw43x ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elisa Baek ◽

Diana Tamir ◽

Emily B. Falk

Keyword(s):

Social Behavior ◽

Information Sharing ◽

Mental States ◽

Social Bonding ◽

Health News ◽

Brain Behavior ◽

The Relationship ◽

Share Information ◽

Shed Light ◽

Mentalizing System

Information sharing is a ubiquitous social behavior. What causes people to share? Mentalizing, or considering the mental states of other people, has been theorized to play a central role in information sharing, with higher activity in the brain’s mentalizing system associated with increased likelihood to share information. In line with this theory, we present novel evidence that mentalizing causally increases information sharing. In three pre-registered studies (n = 400, 840, and 3500 participants), participants who were instructed to consider the mental states of potential information receivers indicated higher likelihood to share health news compared to a control condition where they were asked to reflect on the content of the article. Certain kinds of mentalizing were particularly effective; in particular, considering receivers’ emotional and positive mental states, led to the greatest increase in likelihood to share. The relationship between mentalizing and sharing was mediated by feelings of closeness with potential receivers. Mentalizing increased feelings of connectedness to potential receivers, and in turn, increased likelihood of information sharing. Considering receivers’ emotional, positive, and inward-focused mental states was most effective at driving participants to feel closer with potential receivers and increase sharing. Data provide evidence for a causal relationship between mentalizing and information sharing and provide insight about the mechanism linking mentalizing and sharing. Taken together, these results advance theories of information sharing and shed light on previously observed brain-behavior relationships.

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Animal health news

Veterinary Record ◽

10.1002/j.2042-7670.2018.tb00162.x ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 183 (11) ◽

pp. 344-344

Keyword(s):

Animal Health ◽

Health News

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545. The Impact of COVID-19 on African Americans’ Health Attitudes and Information Seeking Behavior

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofaa439.739 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S338-S339

Author(s):

Katherine Kricorian ◽

Ozlem Equils ◽

Karin Kricorian ◽

Brianna Rochebrun

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Disease Incidence ◽

Family Members ◽

National Sample ◽

Health Attitudes ◽

Health News ◽

Before And After ◽

Science And Government ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background African-Americans suffer a disproportionate impact from COVID-19, comprising about 24% of deaths while representing 13% of the US population. We conducted a study to understand COVID-19’s impact on African-Americans’ health attitudes. Methods In April 2020, we surveyed online a national sample of US adults on their health attitudes and behaviors before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Comparisons were analyzed using chi-squared tests. Results A total of 2,544 individuals completed the survey: 473 African-Americans, 282 Hispanics and 1,799 Caucasians responded. The mean ages of each group were 41.4 ± 11 years, 38.0 ± 11 years and 45.7 ± 13 years, respectively. Before COVID-19, African-Americans were least likely to report they had trust in science (53% vs. 68% for Hispanics and 77% for Caucasians; p< .01) and government (16% vs. 27% and 28%; p< .01). After COVID-19, the percentage of African-Americans who had trust in science and government fell further to 44% (p< .01) and 9% (p< .01), respectively, and remained significantly lower than the other two groups. Twice as many African-Americans vs. Caucasians stopped following science and health news after COVID-19 (9% vs. 4%, p< .01). The percentage of African-Americans who reported anxiety about their health rose from 30% pre-COVID to 53% after the outbreak (p< .01), and the percentage who reported anxiety about their family members’ health rose from 35% to 61% (p< .01). Only 25% of African-Americans surveyed agreed that if they contracted COVID-19, they were confident they would get the healthcare needed. Conclusion After COVID-19, African-Americans’ trust in science and government fell and a meaningful percentage stopped following science and health news, possibly reducing access to important health information. The percentage of African-Americans reporting anxiety about the future, about their health and about their family members’ health all increased significantly after COVID-19. Only a minority of African-Americans agreed they would get the needed healthcare if they contracted COVID-19. These findings have implications for the mental health and behavioral impacts of COVID-19 on African-Americans and for the development of health communications to high-disease-incidence populations. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

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