RAPID: Impact of Coronavirus Understanding, Trust, and Other Public Beliefs and Attitudes on Behavioral Responses

Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences - The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been described by the World Health Organization as a pandemic that will threaten lives the world over. Since first diagnosed in the United States in February 2020, coronavirus has spread rapidly across the country. The objective of this RAPID project is to collect a wide range of public opinion data from a representative sample of Americans to track the public reaction to coronavirus. Information on contemporary health scares typically lead individuals to favor health policy measures, such as vaccines and quarantines, and high levels of government trust to support coordinated responses to epidemics.

This project will study factors that shape the public reactions to coronavirus in the context of this rapidly unfolding public health emergency. Data will be collected in two waves from a large random sample of Americans using YouGov. The PIs will measure public understanding of coronavirus as well as public support for various policy responses to contain or manage the severity of the crisis. The study's findings will help to provide guidance on how public health authorities can best communicate with Americans, and can assist in targeting public health responses to those communities that may be most vulnerable to the virus but not aware of the danger that it presents.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.