Examining the Influences of COVID-19 Information Avoidance and Uncertainty on Perceived Severity of the Pandemic: Applications from the Health Belief Model and Weick’s Model of Organizing

Public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been insufficient at keeping virus from spreading rapidly and threatening public around globe. Not only has society challenged by biomedical issues of disease contagion, infection, morbidity, mortality, but also confronted complex cognitive challenges making sense this threat, especially related accurately evaluating responding appropriately severity pandemic. Perceived is an important factor associated with willingness adopt needed prevention, protection, treatment behaviors for serious risks, like COVID-19. Information avoidance uncertainty are constructs powerful communication theories, including belief model Weick’s organizing, that guide study describing how information influences threats. We used survey data collected 561 college students clarify relationships among avoidance, beliefs about unpredictability, perceived found higher was lower severity, association depended on people’s unpredictability beliefs. Specifically, those who had low assessments we observed a strong negative between severity. Among high levels, weak This evaluates The findings can help strategies enhancing response future