Fostering Prosocial Preventive Behaviours Through Awe

NCT07406529 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: Socialconhealth2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 456
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized control trial is to investigate the impact pf awe on prosocial preventive behaviours against infectious diseases among adults from Hong Kong, Singapore, and ten major cities in Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, Nanjing). The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does experiencing awe increase adults' intentions to engage in prosocial preventive behaviours against infectious diseases, including vaccination, mask wearing, and social distancing?
• Does the impact vary across three research sites?

Conditions

Infectious Diseases

Keywords

preventive behaviour; infectious diseases; awe

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Intentions to participate in future preventive behaviours

  Participants will be asked about their intentions to participate in future vaccination, mask wearing, and social distancing during next winter influenza season using a 7-point Likert scale (1=Never, 7=Certain).

  Immediately after they complete the game with manipulation

• Behavioural choices in the pandemic vignettes

  Based on a hypothetical infectious disease pandemic, six vignettes will be shown to the participants, comprising three on vaccination and three on social distancing. Each vignette illustrates a trade-off between personal cost and social benefit in engaging in these prosocial behaviours. Participants will be asked to report how likely will they are to engage in the prosocial preventive behaviours using a 7-point Likert scale (1=Never, 7=Certain).

  Immediately after they complete the game with manipulation

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Intentions to engage in social activities

  Immediately after they complete the game with manipulation

Study Arms (2)

Awe intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention is a three-step mini game named Hidden Picture Puzzle designed to induce the feeling of awe. In the game, participants will first see a picture of nature covered by six opaque blocks. They will be asked to guess the content of the picture. After making their choice, participants will be instructed to click the six blocks to gradually uncover the picture. Once all six blocks are removed, the full image will be revealed. In the final step, participants will be instructed to imagine themselves in the scene and describe their feelings by selecting the word from a provided list. To ensure that participants will have sufficient time to complete the imagination tasks, they will be required to pause for at least 15s before proceeding to indicate their immediate feeling. Each participant will complete four rounds of this mini game, each with a different picture.

Behavioral: Awe intervention

Neutral imagination control group

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

For the control group, the mini game Hidden Picture Puzzle will also follow a three-step format, identical in structure to the intervention condition. However, the images provided will depict everyday objects (e.g., a sofa or a bottle) rather than nature scenes. Similarly, when participants are asked to guess the content of the picture. After the participants finish uncovering the pictures, they will be asked to imagine their interaction with these daily objects and describe the features of the objects by selecting a word from a provided list. As in the intervention group, participants in the control group will complete four rounds of the mini game, each with a different image.

Behavioral: Neutral imagination

Interventions

Awe intervention BEHAVIORAL

The intervention is a three-step mini game named Hidden Picture Puzzle designed to induce the feeling of awe. In the game, participants will first see a picture of nature covered by six opaque blocks. They will be asked to guess the content of the picture. After making their choice, participants will be instructed to click the six blocks to gradually uncover the picture. Once all six blocks are removed, the full image will be revealed. In the final step, participants will be instructed to imagine themselves in the scene and describe their feelings by selecting the word from a provided list. To ensure that participants will have sufficient time to complete the imagination tasks, they will be required to pause for at least 15s before proceeding to indicate their immediate feeling. Each participant will complete four rounds of this mini game, each with a different picture.

Awe intervention group

Neutral imagination BEHAVIORAL

For the control group, the mini game Hidden Picture Puzzle will also follow a three-step format, identical in structure to the intervention condition. However, the images provided will depict everyday objects (e.g., a bottle) rather than nature scenes. Similarly, when participants are asked to guess the content of the picture. After the participants finish uncovering the pictures, they will be asked to imagine their interaction with these daily objects and describe the features of the objects by selecting a word from a provided list. As in the intervention group, participants in the control group will complete four rounds of the mini game, each with a different image.

Neutral imagination control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults (age ≥18 years) who live in
• Hong Kong, Singapore, and ten major cities in Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, Nanjing) over the past one year
• Able to read and understand written Chinese or English
• Have access to the internet through computers, mobile phones, or tablets

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals with cognitive or linguistic difficulties that would prevent them from completing an online survey will be excluded.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Hong Kong School of Public Health

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Communicable Diseases

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Infections; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Central Study Contacts

Qiuyan Liao

CONTACT

39179289; qyliao11@hku.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: Participants will be randomly assigned to study conditions using the automated randomization function of the online survey platform. Both participants and researchers will be blind to group allocation during data collection. Allocation information will only be revealed to the research team at the data analysis stage.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 5, 2026
• First Posted: February 12, 2026
• Study Start: October 27, 2025
• Primary Completion: March 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2026
• Last Updated: February 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Locations

HK (1)