Abstract

This study aims to examine how the process of online support obtainment may affect cognitive and behavioral coping during a public crisis. A cross-sectional online survey (N = 555) was conducted during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Our findings revealed that informational support, obtained primarily through passive and private online involvement, led to increased risk perceptions of COVID-19; emotional support, obtained mainly via private online involvement, appeared to elicit higher perceived efficacy to cope with the crisis. People’s engagement in preventive behaviors was found to be affected by efficacy perceptions, but not by risk perceptions. The results suggested that online social support functioned as a double-edged sword to affect people’s coping with a public crisis.

摘要

本研究旨在研究在线支持获取过程如何影响公共危机期间的认知和行为应对。在美国 COVID-19 大流行的早期阶段进行了一项横断面在线调查 ( N = 555) 我们的研究结果表明，主要通过被动和私人在线参与获得的信息支持导致人们对 COVID-19 的风险认知增加。 19; 主要通过私人在线参与获得的情感支持似乎可以提高应对危机的感知效能。人们发现人们对预防行为的参与受功效感知的影响，但不受风险感知的影响。结果表明，在线社会支持是一把双刃剑，影响着人们应对公共危机的能力。