Better safe than sorry: leadership sensemaking in the time of COVID-19

Abstract Government leaders who want to promote a collective response to disrupting events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, need to foster a shared understanding of the crisis through effective communication. However, the tone and content of communication varies across and within countries and led to conflicting results in terms of collective sensemaking. To understand how government leaders’ messages shape emotional and cognitive responses of citizens, we designed a 2x2 vignette experiment in which we manipulate the framing (pessimistic vs. optimistic) and content of the message (specific vs. general) delivered by a political leader. Results from 436 participants showed that while the tone of leader’s messages has significant implications for the levels of anxiety and evaluation of the government’s truthfulness and its overall response to the crisis, the content of the leader’s message matters less. Furthermore, these effects were particularly experienced by women and left-leaning participants. Overall, our results highlight the importance of the leader’s communication strategies on influencing the public’s emotional reactions, as well as the perceptions of government effectiveness in dealing with the crisis.

摘要
旨在推动针对新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）等突发危机事件的集体应对举措的政府领导人，需通过有效沟通培育公众对危机的共识性理解。然而，各国国内及国家间的沟通基调与内容存在差异，导致公众的集体意义建构（collective sensemaking）结果出现分歧。为探究政府领导人的讯息如何塑造公众的情绪与认知反应，本研究设计了一项2×2情境实验（vignette experiment），通过操纵政治领导人发布讯息的框架（悲观型vs.乐观型）与内容（具体型vs.笼统型）两大变量。来自436名被试的实验结果显示：尽管领导人讯息的基调对公众焦虑水平、政府公信力评价及整体危机应对成效评价具有显著影响，但讯息内容的作用相对有限。此外，这类影响在女性与左翼倾向的被试群体中表现得尤为显著。综上，本研究结果凸显了领导人沟通策略在影响公众情绪反应，以及公众对政府危机应对效能感知方面的重要性。