Before Omicron’s Arrival: Effects of Negative Emotions and Comparative Optimism on COVID-19 Protection and Detection Behaviors

ABSTRACT

This study examined the associations of emotions, cognitions, and behavioral intentions in response to exposure to news stories reporting on the arrival of Omicron variant in Vietnam. Outcomes included fear, anxiety, anger, comparative optimism, intentions to conduct prevention behavior (wash hands with soap), detection behavior (test for Omicron infection), and share health information. Two experiments were conducted with participants being randomized to either low-risk or high-risk condition that contained information promoting hand-washing with soap (Experiment 1, N = 303), or information promoting COVID-19 testing (Experiment 2, N = 303). Results indicated that viewing high-risk news stories led to higher fear, anxiety, and anger than low-risk news stories. Fear fully mediated the effect of news exposure on intentions to test for Omicron infection and share health information. Comparative optimism moderated the indirect effect of news exposure on intentions to wash hands with soap and share information about COVID-19 testing. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Data screening led to the removal of 10 cases in both experiments (3 participants did not agree with the informed consent, 2 did not complete the survey, and 5 participants with survey time exceeding 3 SD above the mean).

2. Multicollinearity tests were conducted for fear and anxiety in the two behavioral contexts. Results showed that multicollinearity was not a serious concern as the tolerance was higher than .10 and the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was lower than 10 (protection: tolerance = .48; VIF = 2.08; detection: tolerance = .41; VIF = 2.47, J. Cohen et al., 2003).

3. Participants’ perceived susceptibility to Omicron was measured with three items (e.g., “It is likely that I will get Omicron” and “I am susceptible to Omicron infection;” Experiment 1: α = .76; M = 4.39; SD = 1.36; Experiment 2: α = .78; M = 4.53; SD = 1.42), and results of the two experiments showed no significant differences between the low-risk condition and the high-risk condition (Experiment 1: M = 4.36; SD = 1.29 vs. M = 4.41; SD = 1.43; t(301) = −.321, p = .13; Experiment 2: M = 4.59; SD = 1.32 vs. M = 4.46; SD = 1.52; t(301) = .827, p = .06).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.