scholarly journals Mechanism of WeChat’s Impact on Public Risk Perception During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol Volume 14 ◽  
pp. 4223-4233
Author(s):  
Yue Zhuang ◽  
Tiantian Zhao ◽  
Xuanrong Shao
Keyword(s):  
Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yi-Cheng Zhang ◽  
Zhi Li ◽  
Guo-Bing Zhou ◽  
Nai-Ru Xu ◽  
Jia-Bao Liu

After the occurrence of public health emergencies, due to the uncertainty of the evolution of events and the asymmetry of pandemic information, the public’s risk perception will fluctuate dramatically. Excessive risk perception often causes the public to overreact to emergencies, resulting in irrational behaviors, which have a negative impact on economic development and social order. However, low-risk perception will reduce individual awareness of prevention and control, which is not conducive to the implementation of government pandemic prevention and control measures. Therefore, it is of great significance to accurately evaluate public risk perception for improving government risk management. This paper took the evolution of public risk perception based on the COVID-19 region as the research object. First, we analyze the characteristics of infectious diseases in the evolution of public risk perception of public health emergencies. Second, we analyze the characteristics of risk perception transmission in social networks. Third, we establish the dynamic model of public risk perception evolution based on SEIR, and the evolution mechanism of the public risk perception network is revealed through simulation experiments. Finally, we provide policy suggestions for government departments to deal with public health emergencies based on the conclusions of this study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Xu ◽  
Yong Gan ◽  
Daikun Zheng ◽  
Bo Wu ◽  
Xian Zhu ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND So far, there have been no published population studies on the relationship between a COVID-19 infection and public risk perception, information source, knowledge, attitude, and behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand the relationships between COVID-19 infection; four personal nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs; handwashing, proper coughing habits, social distancing, and mask wearing); and public risk perception, knowledge, attitude, and other social demographic variables. METHODS An online survey of 8158 Chinese adults between February 22 and March 5, 2020, was conducted. Bivariate associations between categorical variables were examined using Fisher exact test. We also explored the determinants of four NPIs as well as their association with COVID-19 infection using logistic regression. RESULTS Of 8158 adults included, 57 (0.73%) were infected with COVID-19. The overwhelming majority of respondents showed a positive attitude (n=8094, 99.2%), positive risk perception (n=8146, 99.9%), and high knowledge levels that were among the strongest predictors of the four adopted NPIs (handwashing: n=7895, 96.8%; proper coughing: 5997/6444, 93.1%; social distancing: n=7104/8158, 87.1%; and mask wearing: 5011/5120, 97.9%). There was an increased risk of COVID-19 infection for those who did not wash their hands (2.28% vs 0.65%; risk ratio [RR] 3.53, 95% CI 1.53-8.15; <i>P</i>=.009), did not practice proper coughing (1.79% vs 0.73%; RR 2.44, 95% CI 1.15-5.15; <i>P</i>=.03), did not practice social distancing (1.52% vs 0.58%; RR 2.63, 95% CI 1.48-4.67; <i>P</i>=.002), and did not wear a mask (7.41% vs 0.6%; RR 12.38, 95% CI 5.81-26.36; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). For those who did practice all other three NPIs, wearing a mask was associated with a significantly reduced risk of infection compared to those who did not wear a mask (0.6% vs 16.7%; <i>P</i>=.04). Similarly, for those who did not practice all or part of the other three NPIs, wearing a mask was also associated with a significantly reduced risk of infection. In a penalized logistic regression model including all four NPIs, wearing a mask was the only significant predictor of COVID-19 infection among the four NPIs (odds ratio 7.20, 95% CI 2.24-23.11; <i>P</i>&lt;.001). CONCLUSIONS We found high levels of risk perception, positive attitude, desirable knowledge, as well as a high level of adopting the four NPIs. The relevant knowledge, risk perception, and attitude were strong predictors of adapting the four NPIs. Mask wearing, among the four personal NPIs, was the most effective protective measure against COVID-19 infection, with added preventive effect among those who practiced all or part of the other three NPIs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Kathrin Fischer

Many societal risks are beyond the scope of personal experience. Thus, people are increasingly dependent on third-party information to assess risks. This study examines the dynamics of public risk perception by focusing on the role of media coverage. It does so by comparing public opinion on selected societal risks, namely climate change, terrorism and demographic change over a 25-year period (1990–2015). The analysis examines risk perception in the US and Germany and provides valuable insights into how and why the public's assessment of risks differs in these countries.


Author(s):  
Rui Zhao ◽  
Yuxin Huang ◽  
Yuyu Zhou ◽  
Meng Yang ◽  
Xinyue Liu

Power generation by municipal waste incineration provides a template not only for waste reduction but also for energy recovery. However, incineration plants face considerably strong protests from local communities. In such context, this study investigates the public's risk perception towards an operating incineration plant by using a word-frequency-based decision making approach to provide insight into risk mitigation while enhancing public acceptance. An operating municipal waste plant located at Chengdu, Sichuan Province was used as a case study to examine the risk perception posed by the host communities. Face-to-face interviews through a structured questionnaire were applied to data collection. A word frequency analysis was used to identify the key factors that influence public's risk perception and construct a multi-attributive decision matrix for the risk assessment. Entropy-based fuzzy decision making was implemented to discriminate the risk semi-quantitatively. To alleviate possible conflicts, policy implications were given.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yi Li ◽  
Jian Ming Zhang ◽  
Ji Jun Li ◽  
Qi Zhou ◽  
Xi Bao Xu

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Chunhua Niu ◽  
Zhixin Jiang ◽  
Hongbing Liu ◽  
Kehu Yang ◽  
Xuping Song ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document