Understanding COVID-19 Message Fatigue and Reactance in a Post-Crisis Context

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted widespread public health messaging encouraging behaviors such as vaccination, mask-wearing, and staying home when sick. However, persistent exposure to these messages has sometimes produced unintended effects, including message fatigue and psychological reactance. Drawing on psychological reactance theory (PRT) and the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IMBP), this study examines the relationships between message fatigue, psychological reactance, and behavioral intentions toward three COVID-19 preventive behaviors: vaccination, masking, and staying home when sick. A survey of 348 U.S. adults assessed participants' levels of message fatigue, psychological reactance, attitudes, perceived norms, self-efficacy, response efficacy, collective efficacy, and behavioral intentions. Results revealed that message fatigue was positively associated with psychological reactance. Psychological reactance, in turn, was negatively associated with attitudes, perceived norms, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and behavioral intentions related to COVID-19 prevention behaviors, though varied depending on the specific behavior. These findings highlight the need for public health campaigns to consider the long-term effects of repetitive messaging and psychological resistance when promoting health behaviors, particularly as societies transition from crisis response to ongoing public health management.