# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID Proposal: Psychological distance and risk perception  related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
This project assesses the American public’s perception of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China. The focus of this research is to examine whether Americans’ perception of the root cause of the outbreak, as well as whether they believe the outbreak is a distant issue for most Americans, will determine their risk perception and emotional responses to the outbreak. Further, this project examines the extent to which risk perception and emotions influence whether Americans seek information about this issue, share information with others, and support public health policies including international cooperation. The proposed research advances risk communication research, as well as enhances our understanding of strategic messaging design to benefit public health, prosperity and welfare.The proposed research is an experimental survey to assess 1) how psychological distance (especially spatial and social distance) and causal attribution influence the U.S. public’s risk perception surrounding the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak; 2) how mental construal of the outbreak determines Americans’ emotional responses to the outbreak; 3) how risk perception and emotional responses influence risk communication behaviors and public support for U.S. involvement in providing aid; and 4) whether cultural cognition moderates these relationships. The research involves a survey, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 participants, who are randomly assigned to four experimental conditions. Psychological distance and causal attributions are the main experimental factors with cultural cognition as the primary moderator, while risk perception, emotional responses, communication behaviors, and support for U.S. response effort are the outcome variables. The outbreak provides a unique context to study public risk perception and risk communication behaviors. Although only a small number cases have been confirmed in the U.S. at the inception of the research, there is heightened media attention and the U.S. government has issued a travel ban to all foreign nationals who have been to mainland China. It is possible that social cognitive mechanisms, such as psychological distance, causal attribution, and cultural cognition will synergistically influence public risk perceptions and subsequent communication behaviors and support for public health policies. Exploring these mechanisms and their respective impacts can help us understand how to communicate better about a major disease outbreak in an interconnected world.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Understanding the American Publics COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2)Despite public health effort to persuade Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine hesitancy is a threat to achieve herd immunity in the U.S. Americans who are reluctant to get vaccinated cite worries about the development of the vaccines and their potential side effects. Vaccine views are also connected to political partisanship, with polls showing that at least half of Republicans do not plan to get the vaccine. How citizens comprehend and evaluate the risks associated with the COVID-19 vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic is key to the success of this mass public health intervention. Through two national surveys, this dissertation research attempts to uncover the factors underlying vaccine hesitancy. It addresses, first, how citizens compare the risks from the COVID-19 vaccines with the risks from the COVID-19 pandemic and whether this risk comparison influences their vaccination intention. Second, how three individual characteristics — exposure to COVID-19 misinformation, political ideology, and socio-demographics — influence vaccine uptake. In doing so, this research benefits both social science research and society. The COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccine offer a timely context to study how risk perception and risk comparison influence risk mitigation behaviors (e.g., vaccination, social distancing, hand washing, mask wearing). At the societal level, this research offers evidence-based recommendations to improve risk communication messaging about COVID-19 vaccine uptake. In particular, this research informs on how to craft empathetic and clear risk communication messaging that resonate with citizens from all walks of life to encourage vaccine uptake and continued adherence to preventive behaviors against COVID-19.Two surveys of American adults (N = 1000 each) test hypotheses and research questions. Guided by the psychometric paradigm), the research  compares two interrelated risk objects and evaluates how a mental risk comparison influences risk mitigation behavior. This research contribute to a more refined understanding of risk perception in a world where multiple risks often simultaneously command our attention and people often have to balance each in order to make informed decisions. Findings from the research may also be extrapolated to future risk events. In addition, the inclusion of exposure to COVID-19 misinformation and political ideology will contribute to the rapidly developing literature on misinformation and political polarization in public opinion related to important social issues. In essence, this research can unearth invaluable insights to improve risk communication about the COVID-19 vaccines to improve uptake. Specifically, this research provides evidence-based recommendations to improve communication specifically targeting minorities and other high-risk groups. Educating the public to stay vigilant until we reach broad vaccine coverage as a nation is crucial to overcoming this pandemic; that is, the longer the public continues to practice preventive behaviors, the sooner it will be for this pandemic to end.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
An Engineered Robotic Plasma Array for Large Area Surface Decontamination

# data[].attributes.grants[].funder_divisions
['National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)']

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
Surface contamination by Coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2, and other pathogenic viruses and bacteria pose significant risks for the spread of disease in medical facilities. This increases hospital labor costs for staff to constantly clean surfaces with disinfectants to slow the spread of disease. Infectious hosts can shed SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens that deposit on solid surfaces and transmit disease to new hosts. This persistent transmission is exemplified by Coronaviruses, as they can persist on surfaces for hours or days and remain infectious through casual physical contact. Among bacterial pathogens, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (CDif, and many others) are known to spread through contact with surfaces contaminated by cells or spores shed from infected hosts. While physical or chemical surface treatments, such as topical antiseptics and air-filtration, can mitigate transmission, these treatments are not always practical or compatible with the physical or chemical makeup of the treated surface. These treatments also consume vast quantities of gloves, wipes, disinfectant chemicals, and time. An approach that reduces material consumption, while still compatible with use around people, is required for hospitals and other clinical settings. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) has been studied for its ability to inactivate bacterial pathogens on surfaces, but seldom examined for anti-viral effects. Further, a clear implementation path for the treatment of large surface areas found in medical facilities has yet to be established. This proposed research provides an engineering driven approach to transition CAP systems from laboratory settings to more realistic applications in medical environments. The approach is supported by Specific Aim 1: Construct CAP-Arrays that demonstrate rapid inactivation of Coronavirus and other microbial pathogen surface contaminants, and by Specific Aim 2: Fully integrate a CAP-Array into a robotic system and demonstrate rapid inactivation of Coronavirus and other pathogens over large areas and varieties of surfaces. This project will develop a large CAP-Array (10 cm x 10 cm) deployed on a semiautonomous robotic system to enable rapid, cost-effective plasma treatment of large surface areas, without the need for chemicals and with little risk to personnel. The CAP-Array will be tested on a variety of real-world relevant surfaces, such as linoleum tile, painted drywall, and formica tabletops, for its ability to inactivate viruses such as human and animal Coronaviruses (H229E, MHV) that provide good models for activity against SARS-CoV-2, and against representative bacterial pathogens such as MRSA. The objectives of this proposal are to (1) demonstrate that CAP- Array treatment can cause a 3-log reduction in pathogen viability in <5 s over a 100 cm2 area without scanning and then (2) demonstrate that the CAP-Array-Robot system can be deployed to treat a 2500 cm2 surface in <125 s and cause a 3-log reduction in pathogen viability. A workforce of engineering and biological science graduate and undergraduate students will develop and test the CAP-Arrays, prepare viral and bacterial pathogen samples, and measure pathogen viability after plasma treatment. The success of this project will lead to a new paradigm for robotic sanitizing equipment useful in decontaminating surfaces in healthcare and other settings.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['2019-nCoV', 'Active Learning', 'Adoption', 'Affect', 'Air', 'Animals', 'Antiviral Agents', 'Antiviral Response', 'Area', 'Argon', 'Atmospheric Pressure', 'Biological Assay', 'Biological Sciences', 'Cells', 'Charcoal', 'Chemicals', 'Clinical', 'Clostridium difficile', 'Communicable Diseases', 'Complex', 'Consumption', 'Containment', 'Coronavirus', 'Coronavirus Infections', 'Coupled', 'Crowding', 'Decontamination', 'Deposition', 'Devices', 'Disease', 'Disinfectants', 'Disinfection', 'Effectiveness', 'Engineering', 'Environment', 'Environmental Hazards', 'Equipment', 'Excision', 'Feline Calicivirus', 'Floor', 'Gases', 'Geometry', 'Goals', 'Government', 'Head', 'Health', 'Health Care Costs', 'Health Hazards', 'Healthcare', 'Hospitals', 'Hour', 'Human', 'Human Resources', 'Internships', 'Knowledge', 'Laboratories', 'Measures', 'Medical', 'Mentors', 'Modeling', 'Motion', 'Murine hepatitis virus', 'Nitrogen', 'Norovirus', 'Outcome', 'Oxygen', 'Ozone', 'Paint', 'Pathway interactions', 'Plasma', 'Power Sources', 'Property', 'Public Health', 'Pump', 'Recovery', 'Reproduction spores', 'Research', 'Resources', 'Risk', 'Robot', 'Robotics', 'Sampling', 'Scanning', 'Scientist', 'Shapes', 'Societies', 'Solid', 'Structure', 'Suction', 'Surface', 'System', 'Technology', 'Testing', 'Time', 'Training', 'Universities', 'Vaccines', 'Vacuum', 'Viral', 'Virus', 'air filtration', 'antimicrobial', 'arm', 'base', 'cost', 'cost effective', 'density', 'design', 'graduate student', 'health care settings', 'human coronavirus', 'improved', 'infection rate', 'meetings', 'methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus', 'mobile computing', 'new technology', 'novel', 'novel coronavirus', 'operation', 'pathogen', 'pathogenic bacteria', 'pathogenic microbe', 'pathogenic virus', 'programs', 'public health relevance', 'response', 'robotic system', 'success', 'summer research', 'topical antiseptic', 'transmission process', 'undergraduate student', 'visual control', 'wasting', 'Plasma', ' biofilm', ' bacteria', ' virus', ' sanitization', ' remediation', 'Plasmas medicine']

# data[].attributes.grants[].principal_investigator.desired_collaboration
plasma modeling of devices and interactions with pathogens

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
An Engineered Robotic Plasma Array for Large Area Surface Decontamination

# data[].attributes.grants[].funder_divisions
['National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)']

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
Surface contamination by Coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2, and other pathogenic viruses and bacteria pose significant risks for the spread of disease in medical facilities. This increases hospital labor costs for staff to constantly clean surfaces with disinfectants to slow the spread of disease. Infectious hosts can shed SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens that deposit on solid surfaces and transmit disease to new hosts. This persistent transmission is exemplified by Coronaviruses, as they can persist on surfaces for hours or days and remain infectious through casual physical contact. Among bacterial pathogens, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (CDif, and many others) are known to spread through contact with surfaces contaminated by cells or spores shed from infected hosts. While physical or chemical surface treatments, such as topical antiseptics and air-filtration, can mitigate transmission, these treatments are not always practical or compatible with the physical or chemical makeup of the treated surface. These treatments also consume vast quantities of gloves, wipes, disinfectant chemicals, and time. An approach that reduces material consumption, while still compatible with use around people, is required for hospitals and other clinical settings. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) has been studied for its ability to inactivate bacterial pathogens on surfaces, but seldom examined for anti-viral effects. Further, a clear implementation path for the treatment of large surface areas found in medical facilities has yet to be established. This proposed research provides an engineering driven approach to transition CAP systems from laboratory settings to more realistic applications in medical environments. The approach is supported by Specific Aim 1: Construct CAP-Arrays that demonstrate rapid inactivation of Coronavirus and other microbial pathogen surface contaminants, and by Specific Aim 2: Fully integrate a CAP-Array into a robotic system and demonstrate rapid inactivation of Coronavirus and other pathogens over large areas and varieties of surfaces. This project will develop a large CAP-Array (10 cm x 10 cm) deployed on a semiautonomous robotic system to enable rapid, cost-effective plasma treatment of large surface areas, without the need for chemicals and with little risk to personnel. The CAP-Array will be tested on a variety of real-world relevant surfaces, such as linoleum tile, painted drywall, and formica tabletops, for its ability to inactivate viruses such as human and animal Coronaviruses (H229E, MHV) that provide good models for activity against SARS-CoV-2, and against representative bacterial pathogens such as MRSA. The objectives of this proposal are to (1) demonstrate that CAP- Array treatment can cause a 3-log reduction in pathogen viability in <5 s over a 100 cm2 area without scanning and then (2) demonstrate that the CAP-Array-Robot system can be deployed to treat a 2500 cm2 surface in <125 s and cause a 3-log reduction in pathogen viability. A workforce of engineering and biological science graduate and undergraduate students will develop and test the CAP-Arrays, prepare viral and bacterial pathogen samples, and measure pathogen viability after plasma treatment. The success of this project will lead to a new paradigm for robotic sanitizing equipment useful in decontaminating surfaces in healthcare and other settings.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['2019-nCoV', 'Active Learning', 'Adoption', 'Affect', 'Air', 'Animals', 'Antiviral Agents', 'Antiviral Response', 'Area', 'Argon', 'Atmospheric Pressure', 'Biological Assay', 'Biological Sciences', 'Cells', 'Charcoal', 'Chemicals', 'Clinical', 'Clostridium difficile', 'Communicable Diseases', 'Complex', 'Consumption', 'Containment', 'Coronavirus', 'Coronavirus Infections', 'Coupled', 'Crowding', 'Decontamination', 'Deposition', 'Devices', 'Disease', 'Disinfectants', 'Disinfection', 'Effectiveness', 'Engineering', 'Environment', 'Environmental Hazards', 'Equipment', 'Excision', 'Feline Calicivirus', 'Floor', 'Gases', 'Geometry', 'Goals', 'Government', 'Head', 'Health', 'Health Care Costs', 'Health Hazards', 'Healthcare', 'Hospitals', 'Hour', 'Human', 'Human Resources', 'Internships', 'Knowledge', 'Laboratories', 'Measures', 'Medical', 'Mentors', 'Modeling', 'Motion', 'Murine hepatitis virus', 'Nitrogen', 'Norovirus', 'Outcome', 'Oxygen', 'Ozone', 'Paint', 'Pathway interactions', 'Plasma', 'Power Sources', 'Property', 'Public Health', 'Pump', 'Recovery', 'Reproduction spores', 'Research', 'Resources', 'Risk', 'Robot', 'Robotics', 'Sampling', 'Scanning', 'Scientist', 'Shapes', 'Societies', 'Solid', 'Structure', 'Suction', 'Surface', 'System', 'Technology', 'Testing', 'Time', 'Training', 'Universities', 'Vaccines', 'Vacuum', 'Viral', 'Virus', 'air filtration', 'antimicrobial', 'arm', 'base', 'cost', 'cost effective', 'density', 'design', 'graduate student', 'health care settings', 'human coronavirus', 'improved', 'infection rate', 'meetings', 'methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus', 'mobile computing', 'new technology', 'novel', 'novel coronavirus', 'operation', 'pathogen', 'pathogenic bacteria', 'pathogenic microbe', 'pathogenic virus', 'programs', 'public health relevance', 'response', 'robotic system', 'success', 'summer research', 'topical antiseptic', 'transmission process', 'undergraduate student', 'visual control', 'wasting', 'Plasma', ' biofilm', ' bacteria', ' virus', ' sanitization', ' remediation', 'Plasmas medicine']

# data[].attributes.grants[].principal_investigator.desired_collaboration
plasma modeling of devices and interactions with pathogens

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']

# data[].attributes.grants[].title
RAPID: Who is (Not) Complying with the Social Distancing Directive and Why?

# data[].attributes.grants[].abstract
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, one approach to minimizing the spread of the virus focuses on people’s behavior – social distancing. Since the start of the pandemic, government leaders and health experts have requested citizens to follow social distancing directives. Despite this repeated message and despite the fact that many people are taking the message seriously, many others are violating the new norms. That raises important questions: who is and who is not complying, and why? Understanding why people choose not to practice social distancing is crucial for designing effective public service campaigns.  This research investigates who complies, what specific beliefs should be addressed, and what factors make public campaigns believable. The project seeks to identify the factors that lead to greater compliance for the greater good, and will inform future public service campaigns. A series of studies examines how social distancing behaviors vary as a function of belief systems. An innovative measure of social distancing is developed – one that is more behavioral in nature than the typical survey. The critical beliefs that are to be examined stem from a conceptual framework regarding a directive as involving three essential components.  One is the source -- someone is requesting people to change their behavior.  A second is the surrounding context --  the request is in response to some challenge.  The third component is the target -- the persons to whom the request is addressed. Belief systems relevant to each of these three components are expected to influence the likelihood that people will comply with the request.  As a result, an entire network of beliefs is expected to influence how people respond and why. Some individuals’ belief systems will lead them to view the request favorably, thus promoting appropriate social distancing behaviors. Others will reach more negative conclusions and subsequently refuse to take directives seriously. Once the concerns about the pandemic have lessened, study participants will be re-contacted and asked to again respond to social distancing behavioral scenarios and to indicate if they had experienced virus symptoms in the interim.  Those follow-up data will shed light on the relationship between individuals’ social distancing behaviors and their subsequent likelihood of infection.  The research aims to inform theory regarding social compliance processes, and will provide a stronger foundation for developing future public service campaigns.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.

# data[].attributes.grants[].keywords
['social distancing behavior', ' contracting COVID', ' political polarization', ' conspiracist ideation', ' disgust sensitivity']