The attributes of the images representing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus affect people's perception of the virus
Andreu Sánchez, Celia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat)
Martín-Pascual, Miguel Ángel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Recerca de l'Esport

Date:	2021
Abstract:	The recent COVID-19 pandemic has seen an explosion of coronavirus-related information. In many cases, this information was supported by images representing the SARS-CoV-2. To evaluate how attributes of images representing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that were used in the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis in 2020 influenced the public's perceptions. We have carried out an in-depth survey using 46 coronavirus images, asking individuals how beautiful, scientific, realistic, infectious, scary and didactic they appeared to be. We collected 91,908 responses, obtaining 15,315 associations for each category. While the reference image of SARS-CoV-2 used in the media is a three-dimensional, colour, illustration, we found that illustrations of the coronavirus were perceived as beautiful but not very realistic, scientific or didactic. By contrast, black and white coronavirus images are thought to be the opposite. The beauty of coronavirus images was negatively correlated with the perception of scientific realism and didactic value. Given these effects and the consequences on the individual's perception, it is important to evaluate the influence that different images of SARS-CoV-2 may have on the population.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	PloS one, Vol. 16, núm. 8 (august 2021) , e0253738, ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253738
PMID: 34432819

19 p, 3.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Sports Research Institute (IRE)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles