Understanding the emergence of infectious diseases: Social representations and mass media

Abstract

The present study examines social representations of the threat created by emerging infectious diseases. A free association experiment was carried out in which the stimulus was a news item where the framing of a discourse (human interest vs. attribution of responsibility) was manipulated. Results showed that the human interest discourse sparked off representations linked to vulnerability, while the responsibility discourse produced representations concerning preventive health care promoted by the authorities. Even so, the effect of the discourse was limited and showed that the new information is anchored in previous interpretive schemes. Implications of mass media on health communication are considered.