Trust and Media: Reflection of the Big Five Factor Personality Traits on COVID-19 Pandemic Communication

Abstract

The pandemic process, in general, is a process that creates anxiety due to reasons such as confusion, instability, misinformation and inadequate planning. Within the scope of this study, the assumption that the personality traits of individuals are effective in getting information and taking the required measures while carrying out the health communication during COVID-19 pandemic, and from the question of whether the individual differences can be associated with the inclination for information receipt or not. This scope of this study aims to measure how the communication of the COVID-19 epidemic towards the Turkish people affects the individuals’ preferences for information, the relationships between the sources they trust, and their individual differences based on the Big-5 factors, within the framework of the five major personality traits. This quantitative study, firstly aims to investigate the information-seeking behavior of the Turkish public in relation to their perceptions of COVID-19 and the impact of messages received from the media. Secondly, it is aimed to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic communication affects the relationships among the media sources they trust in their choices of information. While the trust in health care professionals and independent health care associatons were the highest among the individuals who participated in the survey, those who have the responsibility personality trait, trust in the content of COVID-19 messages for government agencies is low.

Keywords

• Trust
• Big Five
• Personality Traits
• Pandemic Communication
• Covid-19

Güven ve Medya: Covid-19 Pandemi İletişiminde Beş Büyük Faktör Kişilik Özelliklerinin Yansıması

Abstract

Pandemi süreci genel olarak büyük ölçüde kafa karışıklığı, istikrarsızlık, yanlış bilgilendirme ve yetersiz planlama gibi sebeplerle tedirginlik yaratan bir süreçtir. Bu çalışma kapsamında, COVID-19 pandemisi sırasında sağlık iletişimi sürecinde bireylerin kişilik özelliklerinin bilgiyi arama sürecinde ve gerekli önlemleri almada etkili olduğu varsayımından ve bireysel farklılıkların ilişkilendirilip ilişkilendirilemeyeceği sorusundan yola çıkılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Türk halkına yönelik COVID-19 salgını iletişiminin beş büyük kişilik özelliği çerçevesinde, bireylerin bilgi alma tercihleri, güven duydukları kaynaklar arasındaki ilişkileri, Büyük-5 faktörlerine dayalı bireysel farklılıklarını ne şekilde etkilediğini ölçmek amaçlanmıştır. Bu nitel çalışma, öncelikle Türk halkının COVID-19 algısında bilgi arama davranışını ve medyadan gelen haberlerin etkisini araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. İkinci olarak da COVID-19 pandemi iletişimi ile ilgili bilgi edinme tercihlerinde güvendikleri medya kaynakları arasındaki ilişkileri nasıl etkilediğinin ölçülmesi amaçlanmıştır. Ankete katılan bireylerden sorumluluk kişilik özelliğine sahip olanlarda bireylerin sağlık profesyonellerine ve bağımsız sağlık kuruluşlarına güveni en yüksek saptanırken, devlet kurumlarına yönelik COVID-19 mesaj içeriklerinde güven düşük bulunmuştur.

Keywords

• Güven
• Beş Büyük
• Kişilik Özellikleri
• Pandemi İletişimi
• Covid-19

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