A $1,000 fine for the Indianapolis Speedrome was levied by the Marion County Health Dept., after pictures of a huge crowd, with few people wearing masks, became public. People at the Sturgis bike rally were also shown not wearing masks. A new study from Ball State showed that people are more likely to wear masks if the messaging more about community health and not just their own.
“In a series of online surveys we randomly gave people one version of that message or the other and ask questions about how compelling they were,” said Prof. Andy Luttrell, assistant professor of Psychological Science. The study is called “Moral Persuasion for Social Distancing Adherence”.
Luttrell co-authored the study, along with psychology professor Richard Petty, of Ohio State.
He said people who tended to think of public health as a moral issue were most likely to respond that they would distance or wear a mask.
“Those messages about altruism, about helping your community, doing your part to protect other people, those ended up being relatively more compelling, on average,” said Luttrell.
The study did not attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of distancing or wearing masks, just how the messaging was received.
“These findings highlight two important lessons for encouraging people to practice social distancing in the midst of the pandemic,” Luttrell said. “First, they show the power of appealing to people’s interests in helping other people. Second, they show that health communication is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor.”
He said for messages to be most effective, they need to appeal to peoples’ individual needs.
He said the next string of the study might address the kinds of messages that would appeal to people who are indifferent to whether masks might help them or others.
5 comments
The masks only reduce the risk if the sick are wearing them.
The healthy get little protection and the mask may cause other health problems.
Drop the mask and get the rapid testing out to stores and other places people gather. Take everyone’s tempature as the enter. Social distancing should start at 20 feet to be effective.
The masks are only an illusion of safety.
Masks are a Placebo and only make you think you are doing something. The CDC has reports that say mask do NOTHING to stop a virus. The box of mask say it doesn’t prevent COVID! Yet people have been lied to so much they believe the lie now.
It is not about a “mask”. It is about moronic politicians pretending they are all knowing dictators. They don’t know S%^T. How long are we going to put up with this crap. The entire Covid pandemic is crap! Look at history and WAKE UP! Politicians are now charging money for non compliance to an unconstitutional and unlawful decree made by people that know nothing about the so called “pandemic”. Everyone sees the politicains not complying with their own ridiculous rules all over America but people still do as their told. WTF!!!
SO RIGHT! Remember in November!!!!! Free people do NOT need permission from the government or their neighbors to live their lives the best way they can.
Masks are proven by science that they do not work and actually make you sicker. Even the K95 can only stop a .6 micron particle and covid19 is .3 microns. So stop the virtue signaling. I will not comply.