A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Nicole LegateThuy-vy NguyenNetta WeinsteinArlen MollerLisa LegaultZahir VallyZuzanna TajchmanAndras N. ZsidoMiha ZrimsekZhang ChenIgnazio ZianoZoi GialitakiChris D. CearyYuna JangYijun LinYoshihiko KunisatoYuki YamadaQinyu XiaoXiaoming JiangXinkai DuElvin YaoWilliam S. RyanJohn Paul WilsonWilson Cyrus-LaiWilliam Jimenez-LealWilbert LawWenceslao UnanueW. Matthew CollinsKarley L. RichardMarek VrankaVladislav AnkushevVidar ScheiVeronika LercheVanja KovicValerija KrižanićVeselina Hristova KadrevaVera Cubela AdoricUlrich S. TranSiu Kit YeungWidad HassanRalph HoustonMichael A. MachinTiago J. S. LimaThomas OstermannThomas FrizzoTherese E. SverdrupThea HouseTripat GillMaksim FedotovTamar PaltrowTeodor JernsätherTasnim RahmanTanya MachinMaria Koptjevskaja-TammThomas J. HostlerTatsunori IshiiBarnabas SzasziSylwia AdamusLilian SuterSuparpit M. von BormannSumaiya HabibAnna StudzinskaDragana StojanovskaSteve M. J. JanssenStefan StiegerStefan E. SchulenbergSrinivasan TatachariSoufian AzouaghePiotr SorokowskiAgnieszka SorokowskaXin SongSofie MorbéeSavannah LewisSladjana SinkolovaDmitry GrigoryevShira Meir DrexlerShimrit DachesShelby L. LevineShawn N. GenioleShahunur AkterSelena VračarSébastien MassoniSebastiano CostaSaša ZorjanEylul SarioguzSara Morales IzquierdoSarah Suzette TshondaSara G. AlvesSara PöntinenSara Álvarez SolasSantiago Ordoñez-RiañoSanja Batić OčovajSandersan OnieSamuel LinsTheresa BiberauerSami ÇoksanSakda KhumkomAsli SacakliSusana Ruiz-FernándezSandra J. GeigerSaeideh FatahModaresRadoslaw B. WalczakRuben BetlehemRoosevelt VilarRodrigo A. CárcamoRobert M. RossRandy McCarthyTonia BallantyneErin C. WestgateRichard M. RyanRafael GargurevichReza AfhamiDongning RenRenan P. MonteiroUlf-Dietrich ReipsNiv ReggevRobert J. Calin-JagemanRazieh PourafshariRaquel OliveiraMina Nedelcheva-DatsovaRima-Maria RahalRafael R. RibeiroTheda RadtkeRachel SearstonRachadaporn Jai-aiRedeate HabtePrzemysław ZdybekSau-Chin ChenPiyaorn WajanatinapartPrincess Lovella G. MaturanJennifer T. PerilloPeder Mortvedt IsagerPavol KačmárPaulo Manuel MacapagalMichael R. ManiaciPaulina SzwedPaul H. P. HanelPaul A. G. ForbesPatricia ArriagaBastien ParisNeha ParasharKonstantinos PapachristopoulosPablo Sebastián CorreaOndřej KáchaMárcia BernardoOlatz CamposOlalla Niño BravoOscar J. Galindo-CaballeroChisom Esther OgbonnayaOlga BialobrzeskaNatalia KiselnikovaNicolle SimonovicNoga CohenNora L. NockAlejandrina HernandezCecilie Thogersen-NtoumaniNikos NtoumanisNiklas JohannesNihan Albayrak-AydemirNicolas SayAndreas B. NeubauerNeil I. MartinNathan TorunskyNatasha van AntwerpenNatalia Van DorenNaoyuki SunamiNikolay R. RachevNadyanna M. MajeedNadya-Daniela SchmidtKhaoula NadifNadia S. Corral-FríasNihal OuherrouNida AbbasMyrto PantaziMarc Y. LucasMartin R. VasilevMaría Victoria OrtizMuhammad Mussaffa ButtMurathan KurfalıMuhib KabirRafał MudaMaría del Carmen MC Tejada RiveraMiroslav SirotaMartin SeehuusMichal ParzuchowskiMónica ToroMonika HricovaMónica Alarcón MaldonadoPanagiotis RentzelasMaarten VansteenkisteMolly A. MetzMagdalena MarszalekMaria KareklaGiovanna MioniMinke Jasmijn BosmaMinja WesterlundMilica VdovicMichal BialekMiguel A. SilanMichele AnneMichal MisiakMaria C. GugliandoloMaurice GrinbergMariagrazia CapizziMauricio F. Espinoza BarríaMerve A. KurfaliMichael C. MensinkMikayel HarutyunyanMeetu KhoslaMegan R. DunnMax KorbmacherMatúš AdamkovičMatheus Fernando Felix RibeiroMaria TerskovaMatej HruškaMarcel MartončikMartin VoracekMartin ČadekMartha Frias-ArmentaMarta KowalMarta ToporMarta RoczniewskaMarlies OosterlinckMarkéta Braun KohlováMariola Paruzel-CzachuraMarina SabristovMarina RomanovaMarietta Papadatou-PastouMaria Louise LundMaria AntoniadiMaria Elena MagrinMarc V. JonesManyu LiManuel S. OrtizMathi ManavalanAbdumalik MuminovMałgorzata KossowskaMaja FriedemannMagdalena WielgusMadelon L.M. van HooffMarco A. C. VarellaMartyn StandageMatilde NicolottiMelissa F. ColloffMaria BradfordLeigh Ann VaughnLuis EudaveLuc VieiraJackson G. LuLina Maria Sanabria PinedaLennia MatosLaura Calderón PérezLjiljana B. LazarevicLisa M. JaremkaEline Suzanne SmitElizaveta KushnirLisa J. FergusonLisa Anton-BoicukGabriel Lins de Holanda CoelhoLina AhlgrenFrancesca LigaCarmel A. LevitanLeticia MicheliLesley-Ann GuntonLeonhard VolzMarija StojanovskaLeanne BoucherLara SamojlenkoLady Grey Javela DelgadoLada KaliskaLabadi BeatrixLara WarmelinkLuis Miguel Rojas-BersciaKaren YuKeith WylieJakub WachowiczKermeka DesaiKrystian BarzykowskiLuca KozmaKortnee EvansKomila KirgizovaBamikole B. Emmanuel AgesinMonica A. KoehnKelly WolfeTatiana KorobovaKatherine MorrisKristoffer KlevjerKevin van SchieKevin VezirianKaja DamnjanovićKatrine Krabbe ThommesenKathleen SchmidtKatarzyna FilipKarolina StaniaszekKarolina GrzechKarlijn HoyerKaris MoonSirikon KhaobunmasiriKafeel RanaKristina JanjićJordan W. SuchowJulita KielińskaJulio E. Cruz VásquezJulien ChanalJulia BeitnerJuan Camilo Vargas-NietoJose Carlos T. RoxasJennifer TaberJoan Urriago-RayoJeffrey M. PavlacicJozef BenkaJozef BavolarJosé A. SotoJonas K. OlofssonJohannes K. VilsmeierJohanna MesserschmidtJohanna Czamanski-CohenJoachim WaterschootJennifer D. MossJordane BoudesseulJeong Min LeeJulia KamburidisJennifer A. Joy-GabaJanis ZickfeldJacob F. MirandaJeroen P. H. VerharenEvgeniya HristovaJulie E. BeshearsJasna Milosevic DjordjevicJasmijn BoschJaroslava Varella ValentovaJan AntfolkJana B. BerkesselJana SchrötterJan UrbanJan Philipp RöerJames O. NortonSILVA CONCHA, JAIMEJAIMESILVA CONCHAJade S. PickeringJáchym VintrJim UttleyJonas R. KunstIzuchukwu L. G. NdukaiheAishwarya IyerIris VilaresAleksandr IvanovIvan RopovikIsabela SulaIrena SarievaIrem Metin-OrtaIrina PrusovaIsabel PintoAndreea Ioana BozdocInês A. T. AlmeidaIlse L. PitIlker DalgarIlya ZakharovAzuka Ikechukwu ArinzeKeiko IhayaIan D. StephenBiljana GjoneskaHilmar BrohmerHeather FloweHendrik GodbersenHalil Emre KocalarMattie V. HedgebethHu Chuan-PengMohammadHasan SharifianHarry ManleyHandan AkkasNandor HajduHabiba AzabGwenael KaminskiGustav NilsonneGulnaz AnjumGiovanni A. TravaglinoGilad FeldmanGerit PfuhlGabriela CzarnekGabriela Mariana MarcuGabriela HoferGabriel BanikGabriel Agboola AdetulaGijsbert BijlstraFrederick VerbruggenFranki Y. H. KungFrank MartelaFrancesco ForoniJacques ForestGage SingerFany MuchembledFlavio AzevedoFarnaz MosannenzadehEvelina MarinovaEva ŠtrukeljZahra EtebariEmma L. BradshawErnest BaskinElkin Oswaldo Luis GarciaErica MusserI.M.M. van SteenkisteEl Rim AhnEleanor QuestedEkaterina ProniziusEmily A. JacksonEfisio ManuntaElena AgadullinaDušana ŠakanPinar DursunOlivier DujolsDmitrii DubrovMegan WillisMurat TümerJennifer L. BeaudryDora PopovićDaniel DunleavyIkhlas DjamaiDino KrupićDora HerreraDiego VegaHongfei DuDébora MolaDesislava ChakarovaWilliam E. DavisDawn Liu HolfordDavid M. G. LewisDavid C. VaidisDaphna Hausman OzeryDanilo Zambrano RicaurteDaniel StorageDaniela SousaDaniela Serrato AlvarezDaniel BollerAnna Dalla RosaDaliborka DimovaDajana KrupićDafne MarkoDavid MoreauCrystal ReeckRita C. CorreiaCassie M. WhittClaus LammClaudio Singh SolorzanoClaudia C. von BastianClare AM SutherlandClara OverkottChristopher L. AbersonChunhui WangChristopher P. NiemiecChristiana KarashialiChris NooneFaith ChiuChiara PicciocchiCharlotte BrownlowCemre KaraarslanNicola CelliniCelia Esteban-SernaCecilia ReynaCecilia FerreyraCarlota BatresRanran LiCaterina GranoJoelle CarpentierChristian K. TamnesCynthia H.Y. FuByurakn IshkhanyanLisa BylininaBastian JaegerCarsten BundtTara Bulut AllredBranko J. VermoteAhmed BokkourNatalia BogatyrevaJiaxin ShiWilliam J. ChopikBenedict AntazoBehzad BehzadniaMaja BeckerManal M. BayyatBeatrice CoccoWei-Lun ChouVassilis BarkoukisBarbora HubenaBarbara ŽuroBalazs AczelEkaterina BaklanovaHui BaiBusra Bahar BalciPeter BabinčákBart SoenensBarnaby James Wyld DixsonAviv MokadyHeather Barry KappesMohammad AtariAnna SzalaAnna SzabelskaJohn Jamir Benzon ArutaArtur DomuratNwadiogo Chisom ArinzeArianna ModenaArca AdiguzelArash MonajemKanza AIT EL ARABIAsil Ali ÖzdoğruAlex O. RothbaumAndriana TheodoropoulouAdriana Olaya TorresAnna SkowronekAnita Penić JurkovićAnisha SinghAngelos P. KassianosAndrej FindorAndree HartantoAnais Thibault LandryAna FerreiraAnabela Caetano SantosAnabel De la Rosa-GomezAmélie Gourdon-KanhukamweAlexandria M. LuxonAnna Louise TodsenAlper KarababaAllison JanakAlice PilatoAlexandre BranAlexa M. TullettAnna O. KuzminskaAnthony J. KrafnickAnum UroojAhmed KhaoudiAfroja AhmedAgata Groyecka-BernardAdrian Dahl AskelundAdeyemi AdetulaAnabel BelausAbdelilah Ca CharyateAaron L. WichmanAlina StoyanovaAnna GreenburghAndrew G. ThomasAlexios ArvanitisPatrick S. ForscherPeter R. MallikNicholas A. ColesJeremy K. MillerHannah MoshontzHeather L. UrryHans IJzermanDana M. Basnight-BrownCharles R. EbersoleChristopher R. ChartierErin M. BuchananMaximilian A. Primbs2023-01-122023-01-122022Psychological Science Accelerator Self-Determination Theory Collaboration, Legate, N., Nguyen, T., Weinstein, N., Moller, A., Legault, L., Vally, Z., Tajchman, Z., Zsido, A. N., Zrimsek, M., Chen, Z., Ziano, I., Gialitaki, Z., Ceary, C. D., Jang, Y., Lin, Y., Kunisato, Y., Yamada, Y., Xiao, Q., … Primbs, M. A. (2022). A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(22), e2111091119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111091119https://repositorio.udd.cl/handle/11447/8113https://investigadores.udd.cl/handle/123456789/520710.1073/pnas.21110911192-s2.0-85144754055WOS:000839021300001 Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment ( n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges. behavior changecovid-19health communicationmotivationself-determination theoryadultarticlebehavior changeconfirmatory factor analysiscontrolled studycoronavirus disease 2019descriptive researchexploratory researchfearfemaleguilthealth care policyhumaninterpersonal communicationmalemotivationpersonal autonomypublic healthrandomized controlled trialshamesocial behaviorsocial distancingsocial mediaA global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemicResource Types::text::journal::journal article