The Interplay of Jargon, Motivation, and Fatigue While Processing COVID-19 Crisis Communication Over Time

IF 2 3区文学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Journal of Language and Social Psychology Pub Date : 2021-10-01 DOI:10.1177/0261927X211043100

Hillary C. Shulman, Olivia M. Bullock, Elizabeth E Riggs

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引用次数: 9

Abstract

Using the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this three-wave experiment (N = 1,830) examined whether a public health crisis motivates people to engage with complicated information about the virus in the form of jargon. Results revealed that although the presence of jargon negatively impacted message acceptance for topics that were not particularly urgent (flood risk and federal risk policy), the presence of jargon within the COVID-19 topic condition did not affect message perceptions—at first. In subsequent waves of data collection, however, it was found that the influence of jargon strengthened over time within the COVID-19 topic condition. Specifically, jargon began to exert a stronger influence on processing fluency despite the continued urgency of the topic. This finding suggests that motivation to process COVID-19 related information declined over time. Theoretical contributions for language, processing fluency, and persuasion are offered and practical implications for health, risk, science, and crisis communicators are advanced.

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在处理COVID-19危机沟通过程中，术语、动机和疲劳的相互作用

在新冠肺炎大流行的背景下，这项三波实验（N = 1830）研究了公共卫生危机是否会促使人们以行话的形式参与有关病毒的复杂信息。结果显示，尽管术语的存在对并非特别紧急的主题（洪水风险和联邦风险政策）的消息接受度产生了负面影响，但新冠肺炎主题条件中术语的存在最初并不影响消息感知。然而，在随后的几波数据收集中，人们发现，在新冠肺炎主题条件下，术语的影响随着时间的推移而加强。具体来说，尽管主题持续紧迫，但行话开始对处理流畅性产生更大的影响。这一发现表明，处理新冠肺炎相关信息的动机随着时间的推移而下降。提供了对语言、处理流利性和说服的理论贡献，并提出了对健康、风险、科学和危机沟通者的实际意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Language and Social Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Language and Social Psychology explores the social dimensions of language and the linguistic implications of social life. Articles are drawn from a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive science, sociology, communication, psychology, education, and anthropology. The journal provides complete and balanced coverage of the latest developments and advances through original, full-length articles, short research notes, and special features as Debates, Courses and Conferences, and Book Reviews.