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How the COVID-19 pandemic influences judgments of risk and benefit: the role of negative emotions

Abstract The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its worldwide spread has an unprecedented impact on many people's daily life. As an external crisis event that is not going to end any time soon, will COVID-19 affect people’s risk judgment towards other risk items in daily life? The present study addresses this gap by examining the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on judgments of risk and benefit, and further exploring the underlying mechanisms. Three hundred and forty-nine participants were recruited and divided into two groups based on whether they were severely affected or mildly affected by COVID-19. The results showed that the severely affected group (vs. the mildly affected group) gave higher judgments of risk and lower judgments of benefit towards risk items such as “air travel” and “nuclear power plant,” and these effects were mediated by the COVID-19-induced negative emotions (fear and anxiety). This study suggests that the adverse effects brought from one external crisis event (e.g., the current COVID-19 pandemic) will spill over and interfere with the judgment of the decision-maker on other routine matters through negative emotions.