The Emergence of Risk Communication Networks and the Development of Citizen Health-Related Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Selection and Contagion Processes

Seunghoo Lim and Hiromi Nakazato
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Seunghoo Lim: Public Management and Policy Analysis Program, Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, Niigata 949 7277, Japan
Hiromi Nakazato: School of Information and Communication, Meiji University, Tokyo 101 8301, Japan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a variety of public health strategies have been implemented by governments worldwide. However, the fact that strict government mandates focus on physical distancing does not mean that social connectedness for voluntary risk communication among citizens should be sacrificed. Furthermore, we lack an understanding of citizens’ behaviors regarding the voluntary adoption of public health measures and the control of mental wellbeing in the age of physical distancing. Key variables in the response to the global pandemic are the emergence of risk deliberation networks, voluntary compliance with government guidelines, and the restoration of citizens’ subjective health. However, little is known about how citizens’ health-related behaviors coevolve with social connections for sharing information and discussing urgent pandemic issues. The findings show that selection and social influence mechanisms coexist by affecting each citizen’s health-related behaviors and community-led risk discourses in the face of the urgent health crisis.

Keywords: risk communication networks; citizen behaviors; voluntary public health measures; health resilience; COVID-19; coevolution; stochastic actor-oriented model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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