Kishishita, DaikiDaikiKishishitaHAN-PU TUNGWang, CharlotteCharlotteWang2022-12-072022-12-072022-10-011352-4739https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/625899This paper studies how people make decisions over preventive behaviors under ambiguity (i.e., Knightian uncertainty) where they do not even know the probability of a loss. In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, scientific uncertainty makes it hard to evaluate not only whether one will be infected, but also probabilities such as the infection rate. We constructed a simple model and demonstrated how its effect was heterogeneous depending on ambiguity-attitudes. Motivated by the model, we further conducted a survey experiment in Japan where we manipulated the information regarding scientific uncertainty on COVID-19. We found that higher ambiguity induced by scientific uncertainty increased the level of social distancing among ambiguity-loving people, but such evidence was nonexistent for ambiguity-averse counterparts.enAmbiguity; COVID-19; Preventive behaviors; Scientific uncertainty; Self-protection[SDGs]SDG1[SDGs]SDG2[SDGs]SDG3[SDGs]SDG13journal article10.1007/s42973-022-00120-3362134932-s2.0-85139236106WOS:000862544400001https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85139236106