Full Recording of Dr. Moran’s Talk on the Role of Communication Science in Policy and Regulatory Decision Making

Full recording for Dr. Moran’s insightful talk on the role of communication science in policy and regulatory decision making is now available on our YouTube Channel! Click here to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKmJF_IRSOU

Dr. Meghan Moran is an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior & Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, jointly appointed in the Oncology Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is a health communication scholar studying how health information can best be communicated to individuals in different contexts and through different channels. Her expertise is in health communication and persuasion, message design, media effects and health behavior. She studies both micro-level processes of persuasion and social influence, as well as the more macro-level health communication that occurs in society.  Areas of interest include tobacco control and policy, vaccination behaviors, cannabis policy, and cancer prevention. Much of Dr. Moran’s current research uses communication science to inform regulatory policy, specifically in the areas of tobacco and cannabis. She has also conducted research examining vaccine hesitancy and effective strategies for vaccine promotion, and strategies for increasing cancer screening. Dr. Moran earned her PhD in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, and her B.A. in Communication and Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Junhan Chen

CHRC Alumna and Staff Propose a Framework of Moderators of Social norm-based Messages based on a Systematic Review

Social norm-based messages have been widely used for persuasion. However, the current trend that research focuses on using social norm theories rather than theorizing about social norms may hinder theory advancement. Although there are efforts theorizing moderators in norm–behavior relationship, the empirical studies testing the theories have yielded mixed findings, and the unclear focus on social norm-based messages versus perceived norms may impede theorizing the communication process regarding social norm-based persuasion. To bridge this gap, our study takes an inductive approach based on 85 studies to create a framework of moderators in social norm-based message persuasiveness. The framework identifies five factors moderating the effect of descriptive norm messages on behavioral intentions and two factors for injunctive norm messages. This framework lays a foundation for theorizing the mechanism of social norm-based message persuasiveness, highlights empirically supported conditions for message persuasiveness, and offers practical implications for designing targeted social norm-based messages.

Chen, J., Xia S., & Lin, T. (2023). A framework of moderators in social norm-based message persuasiveness based on a systematic review. Human Communication Research, hqad043,
https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad043

Full Recording of Dr. Janet Yang’s Talk on PFAS Contamination Risk Communication

CHRC Fall 2023 Virtual Series speaker, Dr. Janet Yang had an informative talk about Risk Perception and Risk Mitigation Behaviors related to PFAS Contamination on Oct. 27, 2023. Click here to watch the full recording.

Dr. Janet Yang is a risk communication expert who conducts social scientific research on the cognitive and emotional determinants of risk perception, information behavior, and strategic messaging. Dr Yang has published over 90 peer reviewed journal articles and delivered over 140 presentations at international conferences. Some of her recent projects examine public risk perception and communication behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination, climate change, air pollution, and PFAS contamination. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, among others. Dr. Yang’s research has been covered in national and international media such as the New York Times, BBC, NPR, and the Smithsonian Magazine. She was awarded the 2021 Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis and the 2020 Hillier Krieghbaum Under 40 Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

 

 

Fall 2023 Virtual Seminar Series – Registration Information

The CHRC is pleased to announce the Fall 2023 CHRC Virtual Seminar Series featuring two outstanding scholars in risk/health communication. We welcome you to join us!  To register for the event(s), please fill out this google form: https://shorturl.at/bDFH1.

Event Details

  • Speaker: Dr. Janet Yang, University at Buffalo
  • Date/Time: October 27 (Friday), 12-1pm, Online via Zoom
  • Talk Title: Risk Perception and Risk Mitigation Behaviors related to PFAS Contamination
  • Bio: Dr. Janet Yang is a risk communication expert who conducts social scientific research on the cognitive and emotional determinants of risk perception, information behavior, and strategic messaging. Dr Yang has published over 90 peer reviewed journal articles and delivered over 140 presentations at international conferences. Some of her recent projects examine public risk perception and communication behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination, climate change, air pollution, and PFAS contamination. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, among others. Dr. Yang’s research has been covered in national and international media such as the New York Times, BBC, NPR, and the Smithsonian Magazine. She was awarded the 2021 Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis and the 2020 Hillier Krieghbaum Under 40 Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
  • Speaker: Dr. Meghan Moran, Johns Hopkins University
  • Date/Time: December 8 (Friday), 12-1pm, Online via Zoom
  • Talk Title: The Role of Communication Science in Policy and Regulatory Decision-Making
  • Bio: Dr. Meghan Moran is an associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior & Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, jointly appointed in the Oncology Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is a health communication scholar studying how health information can best be communicated to individuals in different contexts and through different channels. Her expertise is in health communication and persuasion, message design, media effects and health behavior. She studies both micro-level processes of persuasion and social influence, as well as the more macro-level health communication that occurs in society.  Areas of interest include tobacco control and policy, vaccination behaviors, cannabis policy, and cancer prevention. Much of Dr. Moran’s current research uses communication science to inform regulatory policy, specifically in the areas of tobacco and cannabis. She has also conducted research examining vaccine hesitancy and effective strategies for vaccine promotion, and strategies for increasing cancer screening. Dr. Moran earned her PhD in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, and her B.A. in Communication and Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
xiaoli nan

CHRC Director and Staff Offer Health Misinformation Definition, Psychological Susceptibility Model, and Framework to Counter It

Despite growing concerns and rapidly expanding research about health misinformation, answers to some fundamental questions remain unclear. Among the open questions are the definition of health misinformation (what is health misinformation?), the psychological drivers of susceptibility to health misinformation (why do people believe it?) and effective interventions for reducing the impact of health misinformation (how to counter it?). In this in-depth review and critical analysis of the growing literature on health misinformation, we seek to answer these questions by proposing a tentative definition for health misinformation, a comprehensive psychological model of susceptibility to health misinformation, and a systematic framework for countering health misinformation, while addressing ongoing debate about the scale of the misinformation problem and the effectiveness of current interventions.

Nan, X., Thier, K. & Wang, W. (2023) Health misinformation: what it is, why people believe it, how to counter it. Annals of the International Communication Association. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2023.2225489.

 

CHRC Hosts 2023 Research Group Mini-Conference

The CHRC hosted its 3rd mini-conference, the first in-person mini-conference since 2019 and the first in our new center space in the Marie Mount Building. Over the past year, the five research teams conduct diverse projects unified by the topic of the year. This year’s topic was COVID-19. Media & Society.

Five student-faculty research teams presented their studies:

                                   “An Unclear and Distant Danger: Cognitive Construal, Cultural Distance, and Stereotypes
as Predictors of Risk and Support”

*Nick Joyce, Umisha KC, Tong Lin, Ari Perez Montes, *Kang Namkoong, & Romy Wang
Presenter: Tong Lin

                                                 “Messaging for Future Pandemic Preparedness: Effects of Moral Framing”

*Jiyoun Kim, John Leach, Ran Ma, & Kathryn Thier
Presenter: John Leach

“Older Adults’ Perception of COVID-19 and Successful Aging:
An International Application of CEMSA”

Delight Agboada, *Lindsey Anderson, Drew Ashby-King, Miriam Komuhendo, & Faith Afua Otchere Presenter: Delight Agboada

“Coping with COVID Blue: Appraisals of Stressors, Coping Strategies, and

College Students’ Psychological Well-Being”

Emily Dawson, Saymin Lee, *Kang Namkoong, Yuan Wang, & Jiawen Zhang
Presenters: Saymin Lee & Jiawen Zhang

                                                        “Psychological Roots of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the U.S.:
A Theory-Guided Systematic Review”

Ashley Aragón, Max Erdemandi, *Xiaoli Nan, *Leah Waks, Shilin (Sophie) Xia, & Yumin Yan
Presenter: Shilin (Sophie) Xia

(Authors listed alphabetically *Faculty mentors)

The CHRC Research Group promotes research collaboration in CHRC’s core areas (health, risk, and science communication) among COMM faculty and students. CHRC holds monthly meetings where all the teams participated to share their progress and give each other suggestions. Several teams have submitted their manuscripts to conferences already and all groups will continue with preparing journal submissions over the summer.

 

Yuan Wang

CHRC Students and Faculty Publish Study on Americans Support for Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination

This study sets out to understand the role of cultural worldviews, risk perceptions, and trust in scientists in impacting U.S. participants’ support for COVID-19 mandatory vaccination. Results from an online survey (“N” = 594) suggest that stronger individualistic and hierarchical worldviews are associated with more perceived COVID-19 vaccination risks, less perceived COVID-19 vaccination benefits, and lower support for COVID-19 mandatory vaccination. Perceived benefits mediate the impact of cultural worldviews on support for COVID-19 mandatory vaccination. Trust in scientists moderates the relationship between cultural worldviews and perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Wang, Y., Leach, J., Kim, J., & Lee, S. (2023). Support for COVID-19 mandatory vaccination in the United States: examining the role of cultural worldviews, risk-benefit perceptions, and trust in scientists. Journal of Science Communication, 22(2), A03.https://doi.org/10.22323/2.22020203

Yuan Wang

New CHRC Research About Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Beliefs Among Unvaccinated Black Americans

Health-related misinformation is a major threat to public health and particularly worrisome for populations experiencing health disparities. This study sets out to examine the prevalence, socio-psychological predictors, and consequences of beliefs in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation among unvaccinated Black Americans. We conducted an online national survey with Black Americans who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 (N = 800) between February and March 2021. Results showed that beliefs in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation were prevalent among unvaccinated Black Americans with 13–19% of partici-pants agreeing or strongly agreeing with various false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and 35–55% unsure about the veracity of these claims. Conservative ideology, conspiracy thinking mindset, religiosity, and racial consciousness in health care settings predicted greater beliefs in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which were associated with lower vaccine confidence and acceptance. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Wang, Y., Thier, K., Nitri, S. O., Quinn, S. C., Abedemowo, C., & Nan, X. (2023). Beliefs in COVID-19 Vaccine misinformation among unvaccinated Black Americans: Prevalence, socio-psychological predictors, and consequences. Health Communication, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2179711

Yuan Wang

CHRC Researchers Publish Meta-Analysis on Persuasive Effects of Temporal Framing in Health Messaging

This meta-analysis investigated the persuasive effects of temporal framing in health messaging. Our analysis included 39 message pairs from 22 studies in 20 articles (N = 4,998) that examined the effects of temporal framing (i.e. present-oriented messages vs. future-oriented messages) on attitudes, inten-tions, and behaviors in health contexts. We found that present-oriented messages were significantly more persuasive than future-oriented messages in terms of intentions and integrated persuasive outcomes. Effects of temporal framing on attitudes and behaviors were not statistically significant. We tested six moderators of temporal framing effects (gain vs. loss framing, temporal framing operationalization, behavior type, timing of effect assessment, age, CFC levels) but none of them was statistically significant. Implications for future temporal framing research are discussed.

Wang, Y., Thier, K., Lee, S., Nan, X. (2023). Persuasive effects of temporal framing in health messaging: a meta-analysis. Health Communication, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2175407

xiaoli nan

CHRC Director and Staff Co-Author Study with Faculty Across UMD on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black Americans

In this study we examine the role of moral values in predicting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans. Guided by moral foundations theory, we assess the associations between six moral foundations (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, purity, liberty) and attitudes and intentions toward COVID-19 vaccination. Results of a national survey of Black Americans (N = 1,497) indicate that the care and loyalty moral foundations consistently predicted less vaccine hesitancy with overall more favorable attitudes and intentions toward COVID-19 vaccination, whereas the purity and liberty moral foundations were consistently associated with greater vaccine hesitancy. Relationships between the foundations and vaccine hesitancy were mediated by perceived vaccine effectiveness and safety. Implications of the findings for COVID-19 vaccine communication are discussed.

Nan, X., Wang, Y., Thier, K., Adebamowo, C., Quinn, S., & Ntiri, S. (2022). Moral Foundations Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Evidence from a National Survey of Black Americans. Journal of Health Communication, 1-11.