Optimistic, but Over It: Why Hope Can Increase COVID Information Fatigue Yet Protect Against Behavioral Fatigue
Article information
Cleofas, J. V., & Oducado, R. M. F. (2021). Optimistic but tired of hearing about COVID: optimism as a predictor of COVID-19 information and behavioral fatigue among Filipino youth. The Social Science Journal, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2021.1986300
What this study is about
By mid-2021, many people weren’t just dealing with
What this study is about
By mid-2021, many people weren’t just dealing with COVID itself—they were dealing with COVID exhaustion: constant news, constant restrictions, and the sense that life was stuck in an unresolved crisis. The World Health Organization calls this pandemic fatigue: a gradual drop in motivation to keep following protective behaviors or keep engaging with COVID information.
This study asks a focused question about one psychological trait: optimism. Optimism is often protective—linked to better mental health and stronger preventive behaviors. But it can also have a downside: some research suggests optimistic people sometimes avoid health information to protect their positive mood.
So the authors ask: Does optimism predict pandemic fatigue among Filipino youth? And if yes, does it predict the two parts of fatigue in the same way?
Two kinds of pandemic fatigue (important distinction)
The study uses a well-known two-part definition:
- Information fatigue – feeling exhausted, demotivated, or “sick of” hearing/talking/reading about COVID.
- Behavioral fatigue – feeling strained and demotivated to keep following protective behaviors (masking, distancing, etc.).
That distinction matters because someone might stop reading COVID news but still keep wearing a mask—or vice versa.
What the researchers did
- Design: cross-sectional online survey (first week of July 2021).
- Participants: 1,190 legal-aged Filipino students (18–30) from one higher education institution in the Visayas.
- Measures:
- Dispositional optimism (a general “future-positive” orientation) measured using a 9-item optimism scale.
- Pandemic fatigue using the Pandemic Fatigue Scale (PFS), with 3 items for information fatigue and 3 for behavioral fatigue.
- Analysis: correlations and bootstrapped linear regression models (5,000 replicates), including adjusted models with demographic controls.
What they found (the headline)
Filipino youth were generally optimistic
A large majority of respondents scored in the “high optimism” range (about 83%), with an average optimism score around 4.29/5.
Information fatigue was common; behavioral fatigue was lower
On average, information fatigue was around the moderate range (mean ~4.15/7), while behavioral fatigue was closer to low-to-moderate (mean ~3.25/7).
The key insight: optimism works in opposite directions depending on the outcome
Here’s the “optimistic but tired” paradox:
- Optimism predicted higher information fatigue.
In both unadjusted and adjusted models, more optimistic youth were more likely to say they were tired of hearing about COVID. - Optimism predicted lower behavioral fatigue.
More optimistic youth were less likely to feel demotivated about following protective behaviors.
So optimism isn’t simply “good” or “bad.” It can:
- protect motivation for health behavior, while
- increasing avoidance or exhaustion around health information.
Who was more fatigued?
Several demographic patterns appeared:
- Older youth reported higher information fatigue and higher behavioral fatigue.
- Male students reported higher fatigue (both information and behavioral).
- Working students reported higher information fatigue.
These patterns matter for targeting health communication strategies.
Why might optimism increase information fatigue?
The authors draw on a simple mechanism: optimistic people may avoid negative information to preserve their positive affect. COVID news and public discussions are often framed through fear, losses, and crisis language—so optimists may disengage (“I’m over it”) to stay hopeful.
Another possible pathway discussed in the paper is optimistic bias: if someone thinks “I’m less at risk,” they may feel less need to keep consuming COVID information, which can look like information fatigue.
Why might optimism reduce behavioral fatigue?
The literature is more consistent here: optimism tends to support motivation, coping, and adherence to preventive actions. In this study, optimism appears to help youth sustain protective behavior even if they’re tired of COVID talk.
Bottom line
This study offers a useful public health nuance: people can be “compliant but tuned out.” Optimistic youth may keep doing protective behaviors while simultaneously disengaging from COVID information streams. If public health communication assumes information exposure automatically leads to behavior, it may miss this important reality.
Policy/practice recommendations (actionable takeaways)
- Reduce fear-mongering and redesign COVID messaging
- The paper argues that overly negative or sensational framing can push even optimistic people into disengagement. Messaging should acknowledge hardship, avoid constant alarm tone, and include hope + proactiveness.
- Segment health communication for high-risk fatigue groups
- Older youth, males, and working students showed higher fatigue in key areas—these groups may need tailored formats (shorter, clearer, less repetitive, more actionable content).
- Use optimism strategically
- If optimism supports behavior adherence, public health programs can reinforce hopeful future-oriented frames (“what we can still do,” “how small actions matter”), while still giving accurate risk information.
- Co-create messages with youth
- Youth participation in message design can reduce “information exhaustion” and increase relevance, especially in environments saturated with misinformation and repetitive pandemic updates.
Glossary of key terms
- Pandemic fatigue — A gradual drop in motivation to keep following protective behaviors and/or keep engaging with pandemic information after prolonged crisis exposure.
- Information fatigue — Feeling sick of hearing/talking/reading about COVID; demotivation toward COVID information exposure.
- Behavioral fatigue — Feeling strained or demotivated to keep doing protective behaviors.
- Dispositional optimism — A stable tendency to expect positive outcomes; a form of optimism strongly linked to health behaviors.
- Optimistic bias — The tendency to believe negative outcomes are less likely to happen to oneself than to others; may reduce risk perception and information seeking.
- Cross-sectional study — A one-time snapshot; can show associations but cannot prove causality.
- Bootstrapping — A statistical method that repeatedly resamples data to improve estimate stability (used here with 5,000 replicates).
Comments
Post a Comment