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Recognizing the need for more evidence-based interventions and the potential of well-crafted messages in communicating the opioid epidemic, this study investigates the effectiveness of two messaging strategies (i.e., victim vividness and external attribution) that have the potential to mitigate stigmatization and influence a wide range of public policies concerning the opioid epidemic. Building upon the attribution theory of interpersonal behavior, an experiment with a 2 (victim vividness: high vs. low) × 2 (external attribution: present vs. absent) between-subjects factorial design was conducted among a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 995). The findings show that the messages with greater victim vividness reduced support for victim-oriented punitive policies, whereas the messages that mentioned external attribution increased support for perpetrator-oriented punitive policies. In addition, the two messaging strategies also worked indirectly through various emotions to influence policy support. Discussions on this study's contributions to both theory and practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon recent theoretical perspectives on emotional flow and the dynamic nature of fear appeals specifically, this study examined the sequencing effects of the emotions (i.e., fear and hope) induced from a fear appeal on persuasion in the context of MMR vaccination. Specifically, an experiment (N = 386) with 2 video messages was conducted that manipulated the sequence in which participants experienced fear and hope, resulting in a fear → hope appeal and a hope → fear appeal. The findings show that the fear → hope appeal was more effective in increasing activism intentions than the hope → fear appeal. Fear and hope at different time points served as mediators for this effect. In addition, issue relevance was a moderator for this effect such that the fear → hope appeal was more effective only among those perceiving the issue as highly relevant. Discussions and implications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked hostility against Chinese immigrants and sojourners in the U.S. and other countries. Making the situation worse, strong resentment against this group has also emerged in China due to the fear of returnees spreading the disease. Integrating research on acculturation and hostile media perception, we examined how such bilateral hostility along with different acculturation components (i.e., cultural identification, COVID-19-related media use, and individualistic-collectivistic value) influenced U.S.-dwelling Chinese's psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the results from a two-wave survey assessing the cultural identity and value, COVID-19-related media use, and psychological distress of a group of relatively young and highly educated U.S.-dwelling Chinese (N = 1,256) between March and April 2020, we found that identification with both U.S. and Chinese cultures alleviated immigrants and sojourners' psychological distress. Further, COVID-19-related media use served as a stressor during the pandemic, and perceived hostility from China led to stronger psychological distress among U.S.-dwelling Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]