A STUDY ON THE ATTITUDE FORMATION TOWARD THE RISK OF COVID-19 AND PROPER RISK COMMUNICATION

Abstract

 The spread of new coronaviruses has caused economic and health problems and social division in many countries around the world. In Japan as well, economic losses due to self-restraint following the declaration of a state of emergency by the government and social conflicts caused by the "coronavirus vigilantes" have experienced. However, there are few studies on the attitudes and behaviors of the Japanese people toward these issues, and especially few analyses take into account changes over time. In this study, based on the "Behavioral and Attitudinal Survey on COVID-19" conducted in May and October 2020, we found that health fears, fear of the eyes of others (a form of peer pressure), the degree of agreeing with self-restraint, and the degree of coronavirus vigilantes significantly decreased in October compared to May 2020. The results showed that those who usually referred to TV anchors and hosts had stronger healthy fears, feared the eyes of others, and were more likely to be coronavirus vigilantes.