TY - JOUR
T1 - Call them COVIDiots
T2 - Exploring the effects of aggressive communication style and psychological distance in the communication of COVID-19
AU - Chu, Haoran
AU - Yuan, Shupei
AU - Liu, Sixiao
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - This study examined the influences of perceived distance to communicator on the effects of aggressive style (i.e. personal attacks and intense languages) in communicating scientific issues such as COVID-19 to the public. With a multi-site experiment (N = 464), we found that aggression led to a heightened violation of expected social norm regarding communication styles. However, the interpretation of violation varied depending on the individual’s perceived distance to the communicator. Close distance articulated the urgency and severity of COVID-19 risks conveyed with aggression, which further increased compliance with the message. Far distance perception amplified aggression’s negative influence on writer likeability. The findings showed that aggressive communication may generate positive outcomes when dealing with public understanding of scientific issues such as COVID-19, but communicators need to build a closer connection with their audience.
AB - This study examined the influences of perceived distance to communicator on the effects of aggressive style (i.e. personal attacks and intense languages) in communicating scientific issues such as COVID-19 to the public. With a multi-site experiment (N = 464), we found that aggression led to a heightened violation of expected social norm regarding communication styles. However, the interpretation of violation varied depending on the individual’s perceived distance to the communicator. Close distance articulated the urgency and severity of COVID-19 risks conveyed with aggression, which further increased compliance with the message. Far distance perception amplified aggression’s negative influence on writer likeability. The findings showed that aggressive communication may generate positive outcomes when dealing with public understanding of scientific issues such as COVID-19, but communicators need to build a closer connection with their audience.
KW - COVID-19
KW - aggressive communication
KW - expectancy violation
KW - psychological distance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100353865&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0963662521989191
DO - 10.1177/0963662521989191
M3 - Article
C2 - 33517854
AN - SCOPUS:85100353865
SN - 0963-6625
VL - 30
SP - 240
EP - 257
JO - Public Understanding of Science
JF - Public Understanding of Science
IS - 3
ER -