How People Around the World Perceive Risk Surrounding COVID-19
Sarah Dryhurst, Ph.D.; Claudia R. Schneider; Ph.D., John Kerr, Alexandra L. J. Freeman, Ph.D.; Gabriel Recchia, Ph.D.; Anne Marthe van der Bles, Ph.D., David Spiegelhalter, Ph.D., and Sander van der Linden, Ph.D., University of Cambridge
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The study of nearly 7,000 respondents across 10 countries analyzed the risk perceptions of COVID-19, resulting in a map and model of risk perception. Pooled across countries, personal experience with the virus, individualistic and prosocial values, hearing about the virus from friends and family, trust in government, science, and medical professionals, personal knowledge of government strategy, and personal and collective efficacy were all significant predictors of risk perception. Across all surveys, risk perception of COVID-19 was relatively high.
The top three predictors of the risk perception of COVID-19 across the countries include:
- Individualistic views: the more people held an individualistic worldview (orientation around the self vs. collective or group identification), the less risk was perceived
- Prosociality: those who hold more prosocial views (making sacrifices for the greater benefit of society), were more likely to have higher perceptions of risk
- Direct experience with the virus: respondents who had personal and direct experience perceived higher risk of the virus
The research study breaks down the factors influencing risk perception for each country.
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Six Steps for Companies to Navigate the Pandemic and Thrive in the Future
Margery Kraus, IPR Trustee, APCO Worldwide
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COVID-19 has brought global commerce to a standstill and risks collapsing the corporate infrastructure of even the most powerful economies in Asia, Europe and North America. National and state governments will be disbursing trillions of dollars of financial assistance in the coming months with the goal of kick-starting the engines of business as the pandemic abates.
But governmental efforts will only succeed if businesses are able to effectively navigate the bureaucracies, politics and timelines governing this financial assistance, and quickly put it to work. Executives can’t be passive recipients of the state’s largess through this unprecedented period. They need to act and shape what happens, and play a central role in the speed and scope of our recovery.
IPR Trustee, founder, and executive chairman of APCO Worldwide Margery Kraus discusses six core actions companies need to take to help themselves, and everyone else, get through this emergency. Some of which include:
- Inventory Assets and Challenges: Companies need to consider how best to preserve their strategic assets during this time of social distancing. They’re not just financial, but include the goodwill imbued in all your successful commercial and social relationships with customers, suppliers and employees.
- Prioritize Government Relations: Executives need to prioritize government relations at this time. This means looking at them through both a local and global lens, and over the near- and medium-term. You will need to know, and when possible anticipate, the steps governments are taking and try to shape them to your company’s advantage.
- Step Up Strategic Communications: Companies, rather than going to ground, need to communicate aggressively to all of their key stakeholders during this pandemic. The recovery of your company depends on it. This will often mean tailoring, and reinforcing, messaging to your different constituencies – workers, shareholders, the media, the government.
Learn about the other core actions companies need to get through this crisis.
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A Pandemic Shift: America’s Return to Depression-Era Values
Therese Caruso, Zeno Group
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Similar to how so many things have changed in people's COVID-19 lives, so apparently have Americans’ views of their most important values, moving away from materialism toward frugality, and away from self-centered ambition toward duty.
A shift in values such as this has not been seen since the last time Americans experienced this much economic and social upheaval: The Great Depression of the 1930s.
Researchers at Zeno Group asked 1,000 people in the U.S:
What values do you hold in high importance today versus those you held in high regard before the pandemic?
Read more to learn how much the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people's lives, and discover the five key insights pertaining to steps American companies and brands should follow during this time of value-shifting.
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One-third of Americans Are Experiencing High Levels of Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Scott Keeter, Pew Research Center
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To help track and assess the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, Pew Research Center asked members of the American Trends Panel in March and April how often in the past seven days they had experienced five different types of psychological distress (such as anxiety, sleeplessness, or depression).
Some key findings include:
- More than half (55%) of adults who describe their financial situation as "poor" have experienced high levels of distress, as have 50% of those who report having a disability or handicap that keeps them from fully participating in work, school, or other activities.
- Compared to the March survey, 17% of respondents became more distressed (moving up at least one category in the three-category scale of low, medium, and high psychological distress), while a roughly equal number (18%) became less distressed, moving down one or more categories; 15% were in the high distress category in March and remained there in April.
- People who experienced a high level of distress are more likely to report that the pandemic has negatively affected their financial situation, that they are very concerned that they will get COVID-19 and require hospitalization, and that keeping up with the news about COVID-19 makes them feel worse emotionally.
Read more about the progression of psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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11 Cognitive Biases That Influence Outcomes
Visual Capitalist
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Politicians and the media often use cognitive biases to sway public opinion and election outcomes. Some of the most common biases that can distort our perspective are the three "Big Cs":
- Confirmation bias: favoring or seeking information that affirms your pre-existing believes
- Coverage bias: the extent to which different issues are reported on and discussed
- Concision bias: selectively focusing on information, losing nuance
There are several other biases to be aware of in order to prevent you from being influenced by these flawed patterns of thinking (See image below).
Learn more about cognitive biases and how best to overcome them.
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