突发事件中民众责任归因的心理需求与应对

Psychological needs of responsibility attribution and response strategies in public emergencies

突发事件发生后,通过责任归因对事件原因和责任归属进行推断是民众心理活动的重要特征之一。从民众心理需要来看,突发事件带来的不确定感驱使个体寻找事件的解释来实现认知闭合,控制感的不足则会让个体更加强调外部世界的秩序性,这两种需要也是事件中阴谋论传播和替罪羊效应的心理基础。相应地,在事件中负有责任的组织主体,也应当基于民众的心理需要采取适当的应对策略,来重塑组织形象和民众的信任,避免责任规避带来的负面效应。未来研究可以进一步从心理学视角补充整合性的实证证据,对突发事件的不同类型进行区分,关注责任归因与其他社会心理学变量之间的联系,以及探索适合中国社会的有效应对措施。

The main objective of the psychological activities in a public emergency is to determine its source and who is to take responsibility. Emergencies often increase individuals’ sense of uncertainty and give them a sense of unpredictability about the future, thus, driving individuals to seek explanations for emergencies to achieve cognitive closure. Additionally, crises threaten individuals’ control, making them feel less influential in their outcomes, making them more concerned about the order of the external world.Related organizations who are responsible for the emergency should adopt appropriate response strategies to reshape their reputation and re-win the trust of the public. Significantly, researchers need to establish a more systematic and complete model to supplement empirical evidence based on psychology. Further, there is a need to study the attribution of responsibility in various emergencies, explore effective coping strategies suitable to the Chinese socio-cultural context, and examine the connection between responsibility attribution and other social-psychological variables.