Table 2.
Wording presented in Experiment 2.1. Each participant was presented with five hypothetical risk levels (shown in the rows), and was assigned to one of eight conditions in a 4 (context condition) × 2 (percentage versus frequency format) design.
| risk level (percentage/frequency) | context condition |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| number only | ages | concordant | discordant | |
| 0.1%/1 in 1000 | imagine that you were told that if you caught COVID-19, your risk of dying of it were: 0.1%a | if Mel catches COVID-19, Mel's risk of dying is 0.1%. For comparison: The average 85-year-old man with no health problems has a risk of 12%. The average 75-year-old man with no health problems has a risk of 1.7%. The average man under 55 with no health problems has a risk of below 0.5%. | if Mel catches COVID-19, Mel's risk of dying is 0.1%. For context: They are a white man aged 30 with no underlying health conditions | if Mel catches COVID-19, Mel's risk of dying is 0.1%. For context: They are an Asian man aged 85 with a heart condition and diabetes |
| 1%/10 in 1000 | imagine that you were told that if you caught COVID-19, your risk of dying of it were 1% | if Ali catches COVID-19, Ali's risk of dying is 1%. For comparison: [Same as above] | if Ali catches COVID-19, Ali's risk of dying is 1%. For context: They are a mixed race man aged 30 with two underlying health issues | if Ali catches COVID-19, Ali's risk of dying is 1%. For context: They are a black woman aged 75 and with certain underlying health issues. |
| 5%/50 in 1000 | imagine that you were told that if you caught COVID-19, your risk of dying of it were 5% | if Jo catches COVID-19, Jo's risk of dying is 5%. For comparison: [Same as above] | if Jo catches COVID-19, Jo's risk of dying is 5%. For context: They are a white woman aged 40 with a high BMI and undergoing cancer treatment | if Jo catches COVID-19, Jo's risk of dying is 5%. For context: They are a white woman aged 40 with a high BMI and undergoing cancer treatment |
| 12%/120 in 1000 | imagine that you were told that if you caught COVID-19, your risk of dying of it were 12% | if Alex catches COVID-19, Alex's risk of dying is 12%. For comparison: [Same as above] | if Alex catches COVID-19, Alex's risk of dying is 12%. For context: They are a black woman aged 75 and with certain underlying health issues | if Alex catches COVID-19, Alex's risk of dying is 12%. For context: They are a mixed race man aged 30 with two underlying health issues |
| 20%/200 in 1000 | imagine that you were told that if you caught COVID-19, your risk of dying of it were 20% | if Sam catches COVID-19, Sam's risk of dying is 20%. For comparison: [Same as above] | if Sam catches COVID-19, Sam's risk of dying is 20%. For context: They are an Asian man aged 85 with a heart condition and diabetes | if Sam catches COVID-19, Sam's risk of dying is 20%. For context: They are a white man aged 30 with no underlying health conditions |
aText for percentage format condition shown throughout, in frequency format condition risk level presented as ‘x in 1000’ as shown in the first column.