Abstract

BEZERRA, Viviane; BU, Emerson Do; ALEXANDRE, Maria Edna  and  COUTINHO, Maria da Penha. Representational structure of the new coronavirus and the pandemic state. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2020, vol.21, n.3, pp.594-605.  Epub Dec 31, 2020. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/20psd210305.

This study sought to identify the representative structures of the new coronavirus and to what characterizes a pandemic for Brazilians. For this, there were 495 participants, predominantly female (64.4%) and residents of the Northeast region of Brazil (58.3%). The data were collected through the Free Word Association Technique and analyzed in the IRAMUTEQ software, performing prototypical analysis. The results indicated that the representative structures of the new coronavirus and the pandemic are related, highlighting, as central elements, fear and panic. The peripheral systems also showed similarities between these two phenomena, especially concerning their association with death, the typical symptoms, the conception of a risk group and the measures to prevent and contain the pandemic state. These findings signal the importance of professionals, health agencies, the media and government agencies to promote instrumental interventions of functional practices to contain the pandemic of COVID-19.

Keywords : Coronavirus; pandemic; prevention; social psychology; health psychology.

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