Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Zoonoses (diseases that enter the human population via animalcontact) are a major global health concern. Because of howzoonoses emerge, understanding human reasoning about therisk factors associated with animal contact is central to com-bating their spread. However, little is known about the factorsthat influence perception of these risks. We present an induc-tive account of zoonosis risk perception, suggesting that it isinfluenced by beliefs about the range of animals that are able totransmit diseases to each other. In Study 1, we find that partic-ipants who endorse higher likelihoods of cross-species diseasetransmission have stronger intention to report animal bites. InStudy 2, adapting real world descriptions of Ebola virus fromthe WHO and CDC, we find that communications conveyinga broader range of animals as susceptible to a disease increaseintentions to report animal bites and decrease perceived safetyof wild game meat. These findings suggest that cognitive fac-tors may be harnessed to modulate zoonosis risk perceptionand combat emerging infectious diseases.