Predicting Public Support for Government Actions in a Public Health Crisis: Testing Fear, Organization-Public Relationship, and Behavioral Intention in the Framework of the Situational Theory of Problem Solving

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine a theoretical model to predict publics’ communicative actions to take and transmit information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as their behavioral intentions to follow the CDC’s instructions in the context of infectious disease outbreaks. Using the framework of the situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS), this study tested the roles of fear and positive organization-public relationship (OPR), linking STOPS and behavioral intentions to follow CDC instructions. The results of this study suggest that fear and positive OPR variables play vital roles in predicting individuals’ information acquisition, information transmission, and willingness to follow the CDC’s instructions to cope with infectious diseases.