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To test whether the risk information seeking and processing model performs consistently when a risk is viewed at different levels of personal relevance, this study focuses on the context of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Results from an experimental survey (N = 1,323) indicate that informational subjective norms play a bigger role when PFAS contamination is portrayed as having lower relevance to participants. Moreover, trust in government and trust in science are associated with information seeking only in the low relevance condition. Finally, the different results of worry and anxiety suggest a need to better understand discrete emotions' impact on information seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this study explores the antecedents to information seeking and information avoidance about a relatively novel risk – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Based on an experimental survey, we found that current knowledge, informational subjective norms, and risk perception are positively related to information seeking and information avoidance. Perceived personal control is positively related to information avoidance, but not related to information seeking. Fear is positively related to information seeking, but sadness is not related to either seeking or avoidance. Lastly, information seeking and information avoidance are associated with preventive behaviors related to PFAS contamination in the opposite direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by construal level-theory, this research seeks to understand the effect of perceived psychological distance on emotions and risk perception associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in its early stage. Survey data were collected from a nationally representative U.S. adult sample (N = 1009) in April 2020. Results reveal that social distance was negatively related to emotions and risk perception. However, hypothetical distance was not significantly related to these variables. Emotions and risk perception also mediated the relationship between social distance and support for aid response measures; theoretically, we demonstrate that people evaluate risks contingent on their emotions when making decisions. This research contributes to extant literature on psychological distance and its utility in communication messaging design during public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the biggest challenges facing mankind in recent history, the COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impact on the United States. However, government responses ranging from stay-at-home orders to temporary closing of nonessential businesses are not palatable for everyone. This study examines how cultural cognition, risk perception, and discrete emotions influence Americans' support for COVID-19 responses. We found that compared to communitarians and egalitarians, individualists and hierarchists were less likely to support COVID-19 responses. In addition, fear and anger mediated the relationship between risk perception and public support in the opposite direction. The highlight of this study is the moderating role of cultural cognition. Specifically, individualistic worldviews significantly moderated anger's mediation effect on the relationship between risk perception and support for COVID-19 responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this study investigates the sociopsychological factors associated with systematic processing. Results reveal interesting moderating effects for relevant channel beliefs and perceived information gathering capacity. These findings suggest that science communication surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic needs to attend to the target audience's beliefs about specific information channels, as well as their ability to process relevant information. However, the unsupported hypotheses also call for scholarly attention on the applicability of the RISP model to non-Western cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the risk information seeking and processing model, this study examines socio-psychological variables that influence the American public's information seeking and information sharing at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through three surveys that spanned from February to April, 2020. Results indicate that people seek and share information mostly to fulfill social expectations regarding their own knowledge of the pandemic. Individuals who perceive information about the pandemic on social media as credible are more likely to share information. Those who view themselves as capable to gather information are more likely to seek information, but this perceived ability is related to information sharing only as the pandemic becomes more pertinent to Americans. Consistent with past research, people with higher risk perception report stronger affective response to the pandemic, which increases their information insufficiency. This need for information, however, is not consistently related to seeking and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, repeated childhood vaccine scandals shook public confidence in vaccine safety in China. This study explores whether media attention, online discussion, and social trust influence Chinese parents' risk perception and vaccination intention. Based on data from a Qualtrics panel (N = 354), results indicate that media attention is positively related to social trust and online discussion is positively related to perceived benefits. Additionally, social trust is negatively associated with perceived risk but positively associated with perceived benefits. Social trust is also positively related to general vaccination intention and intention to get domestic vaccines. Further, social trust mediates the relationship between media attention/online discussion and risk perception. Lastly, parents with higher risk perception are less likely to get domestic vaccines, but more likely to get imported vaccines. Perceived benefits also influence vaccination intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model to examine social cognitive variables that motivate active information seeking and systematic processing. The research context is the recent childhood vaccine scandals in China. As a novel contribution to the RISP literature, a significant interaction between relevant channel beliefs and perceived information gathering capacity is unveiled. This result suggests that both information quality and accessibility to information channels influence information seeking, which is an important finding with theoretical and practical implications for other science communication issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study replicates a cued distance design (Schuldt, Rickard, & Yang, 2018. Does reduced psychological distance increase climate engagement? on the limits of localizing climate change. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 55, 147–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.02.001) to examine its impact on perceived psychological distance and mental construal of climate change impacts. Based on two undergraduate samples (total N = 415) in Singapore, the cued distance manipulation (proximal vs. distal) successfully led to different spatial distance perceptions in both samples; however, we were unable to replicate the effect of cued distance manipulation on mental construal. In study 1, among liberals, the proximal distance condition elevated risk perception, policy support, and behavioral intention, but decreased negative affect. In study 2, liberals reported greater policy support and behavioral intention regardless of cued distance manipulation. These findings indicate that simply narrowing the perceived distance of climate change impacts fall short in generating greater climate change engagement; in fact, depending on political orientation, proximal cues about climate change impacts may exacerbate polarization. Future research should continue to explore the utility of the construal level theory of psychological distance and its value in environmental communication research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Salt stress is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting plant growth, development, and productivity. In this study, we functionally characterized a wheat vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter gene (TaNHX3). TaNHX3 is 78.9% identical with TaNHX2 in nucleic acid level, encoding a polypeptide of 522 amino acids (aa). TaNHX3 is targeted onto tonoplast after ER sorting and can complement the growth under salt stress in a yeast mutant with a defective vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter exchange. TaNHX3 transcripts were induced by applying salt stress in wheat cultivars. More TaNHX3 were detected in the salt-stress-resistant cultivar Ji 7369 compared with the salt-stress-sensitive cultivar Shimai 12 and Ji-Shi-3, an isogenic line derived from aforementioned cultivars with Shimai 12 genetic background. The ectopic TaNHX3 expression in tobacco significantly enhanced the plant tolerance to salt stress. Compared with control plants, the TaNHX3 overexpressing plants displayed no varied Na+ contents and accumulated more Na+ amount in plants. However, they exhibited higher fresh and dry weights, more accumulative nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, higher contents of chlorophyll, carotenoid, soluble protein, higher activities of the antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase, and lower malondialdehyde and H2O2 amount. Our results indicated that TaNHX3 plays an important role in regulating the cytosolic Na+ transportation within vacuoles under high salinity, alleviating the Na+ damage effects. The improved salt stress tolerance in TaNHX3 overexpressing tobacco plants is closely associated with the improvement of the aforementioned physiological processes. TaNHX3 can be used as a candidate gene for molecular breeding of salt-tolerant plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]