The influence of government information release on public psychology in public crisis of COVID-19 epidemic

Abstract

Government information release has a crucial impact on public psychology. Based on the theory of crisis communication, based on a total of 1717 questionnaires from 252 cities in 32 provinces across the country, this paper analyzes the three dimensions of public perception of government information quality, public media information preference, public panic, and anti-epidemic confidence. This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the influence of government information release on public psychology in current public crisis events. The research results show that:  the government media is the public's first source of information and the most trusted media, the publishing subject and media with the characteristics of "public" organizations are the most trusted by the public, and the mobile phone is the first tool for the public to obtain information. and the quality of the release of government information, the quality of the public's perception of government information resources, the degree of public individual's attention to the epidemic, and the core of concern all significantly affect the public's panic and confidence in fighting the epidemic.