TAMPA, FL - JUNE 26: Coronavirus cases are spiking in Florida, yet many people don't understand the need for masks for social distancing. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images) Getty Images
By Alison Escalante
Wearing masks and social distancing have been shown the be the most important measures we can take to fight coronavirus. Yet a large number of people don’t see the need, leading to recent surges in most U.S. states. A new study shows that people who aren’t wearing masks misunderstand how Covid-19 spreads.
Researchers at the Social Cognition Center Cologne and the University of Bremen conducted three experiments, each involving more than 500 adults from the United States. A sizable number of them did not see the point of social distancing or mask wearing because they made a simple mistake about statistics. People tend to think coronavirus spreads linearly when it really spreads exponentially. Read more >>
