Titel
Peers for the fearless: Social norms facilitate preventive behaviour when individuals perceive low COVID-19 health risks
Autor*in
Abstract
A strategy frequently adopted to contain the COVID-19 pandemic involves three non-pharmaceutical interventions that depend on high levels of compliance in society: maintaining physical distance from others, minimizing social contacts, and wearing a face mask. These measures require substantial changes in established practices of social interaction, raising the question of which factors motivate individuals to comply with these preventive behaviours. Using Austrian panel survey data from April 2020 to April 2021, we show that perceived health risks, social norms, and trust in political institutions stimulate people to engage in preventive behaviour. A moderation analysis shows that the effectiveness of social norms in facilitating preventive behaviour increases when people’s perceptions of health risks decrease. No such moderation effect is observed for trust in political institutions. These results suggest that strong social norms play a crucial role in achieving high rates of preventive behaviour, especially when perceived levels of health risks are low.
Stichwort
Behavioral and social aspects of healthMedical risk factorsPandemicsBehaviorCOVID 19Virus testingSurveysSocial theory
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
Erschienen in
Titel
PLOS ONE
Band
16
Ausgabe
12
ISSN
1932-6203
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Publication
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Projekt
Kod / Identifikator
P33907-G
Fördergeber
Projekt
Kod / Identifikator
EI-COV20-006
Fördergeber
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© 2021 Kittel et al
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