The effective implementation of government policies and measures for controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires compliance from the public. This study aimed to examine ...cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with the adoption of recommended health behaviours and prosocial behaviours, and potential determinants of trust in government during the pandemic.
This study analysed data from the PsyCorona Survey, an international project on COVID-19 that included 23 733 participants from 23 countries (representative in age and gender distributions by country) at baseline survey and 7785 participants who also completed follow-up surveys. Specification curve analysis was used to examine concurrent associations between trust in government and self-reported behaviours. We further used structural equation model to explore potential determinants of trust in government. Multilevel linear regressions were used to examine associations between baseline trust and longitudinal behavioural changes.
Higher trust in government regarding COVID-19 control was significantly associated with higher adoption of health behaviours (handwashing, avoiding crowded space, self-quarantine) and prosocial behaviours in specification curve analyses (median standardised
= 0.173 and 0.229,
< 0.001). Government perceived as well organised, disseminating clear messages and knowledge on COVID-19, and perceived fairness were positively associated with trust in government (standardised
= 0.358, 0.230, 0.056, and 0.249,
< 0.01). Higher trust at baseline survey was significantly associated with lower rate of decline in health behaviours over time (
for interaction = 0.001).
These results highlighted the importance of trust in government in the control of COVID-19.
•Risk perception of COVID-19 was associated with more negative/less positive emotions.•Risk perception of COVID-19 was inversely associated with subsequent mental health.•The association between risk ...perception and mental health was mediated by emotions.•Specification curve analysis was used to avoid subjective analytical decisions.
Although there are increasing concerns on mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, no large-scale population-based studies have examined the associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and subsequent mental health.
This study analysed cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the PsyCorona Survey that included 54,845 participants from 112 countries, of which 23,278 participants are representative samples of 24 countries in terms of gender and age. Specification curve analysis (SCA) was used to examine associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and self-rated mental health. This robust method considers all reasonable model specifications to avoid subjective analytical decisions while accounting for multiple testing.
All 162 multilevel linear regressions in the SCA indicated that higher risk perception of COVID-19 was significantly associated with less positive or more negative emotions (median standardised β=-0.171, median SE=0.004, P<0.001). Specifically, regressions involving economic risk perception and negative emotions revealed stronger associations. Moreover, risk perception at baseline survey was inversely associated with subsequent mental health (standardised β=-0.214, SE=0.029, P<0.001). We further used SCA to explore whether this inverse association was mediated by emotional distress. Among the 54 multilevel linear regressions of mental health on risk perception and emotion, 42 models showed a strong mediation effect, where no significant direct effect of risk perception was found after controlling for emotion (P>0.05).
Reliance on self-reported data.
Risk perception of COVID-19 was associated with emotion and ultimately mental health. Interventions on reducing excessive risk perception and managing emotional distress could promote mental health.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study examines the moderating effect of flexible work arrangements on the relationship between self-efficacy and innovative work behavior. Data were collected from 202 logistics employees ...working in Ankara, Türkiye. SPSS process macro plugin was used to test the moderation effect. The theoretical basis of the study was analyzed within the framework of Conservation of Resources (Hobfoll, 1989), Social Cognition Theory (Bandura, 1986), and Job-Demand Resources models (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Within the scope of the study, the perception of flexible working was examined in two sub-dimensions as time and structure flexibility perception. The results revealed that an increase in both structure and time flexibility perception dimensions increased the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and innovative work behavior. The study is important because it is one of the few studies that examine logistics employees despite their significant contribution to the global economy. Understanding the behaviors of sector employees is of great importance in terms of optimizing operational efficiency and improving overall performance in the sector.
This study examines the moderating effect of flexible work arrangements on the relationship between self-efficacy and innovative work behavior. Data were collected from 202 logistics employees working in Ankara, Türkiye. SPSS process macro plugin was used to test the moderation effect. The theoretical basis of the study was analyzed within the framework of Conservation of Resources (Hobfoll, 1989), Social Cognition Theory (Bandura, 1986), and Job-Demand Resources models (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Within the scope of the study, the perception of flexible working was examined in two sub-dimensions as time and structure flexibility perception. The results revealed that an increase in both structure and time flexibility perception dimensions increased the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and innovative work behavior. The study is important because it is one of the few studies that examine logistics employees despite their significant contribution to the global economy. Understanding the behaviors of sector employees is of great importance in terms of optimizing operational efficiency and improving overall performance in the sector.
Cross-societal differences in cooperation and trust among strangers in the provision of public goods may be key to understanding how societies are managing the COVID-19 pandemic. We report a survey ...conducted across 41 societies between March and May 2020 (N = 34,526), and test pre-registered hypotheses about how cross-societal differences in cooperation and trust relate to prosocial COVID-19 responses (e.g., social distancing), stringency of policies, and support for behavioral regulations (e.g., mandatory quarantine). We further tested whether cross-societal variation in institutions and ecologies theorized to impact cooperation were associated with prosocial COVID-19 responses, including institutional quality, religiosity, and historical prevalence of pathogens. We found substantial variation across societies in prosocial COVID-19 responses, stringency of policies, and support for behavioral regulations. However, we found no consistent evidence to support the idea that cross-societal variation in cooperation and trust among strangers is associated with these outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results were replicated with another independent cross-cultural COVID-19 dataset (N = 112,136), and in both snowball and representative samples. We discuss implications of our results, including challenging the assumption that managing the COVID-19 pandemic across societies is best modeled as a public goods dilemma.
Full text
Available for:
NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is important to inform policy decisions and plan vaccination campaigns. The aims of this research were to: (1) explore the individual- and ...country-level determinants of intentions to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and (2) examine worldwide variation in vaccination intentions. This cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the first wave of the pandemic, involving 6697 respondents across 20 countries. Results showed that 72.9% of participants reported positive intentions to be vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas 16.8% were undecided, and 10.3% reported they would not be vaccinated. At the individual level, prosociality was a significant positive predictor of vaccination intentions, whereas generic beliefs in conspiracy theories and religiosity were negative predictors. Country-level determinants, including cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism and power distance, were not significant predictors of vaccination intentions. Altogether, this study identifies individual-level predictors that are common across multiple countries, provides further evidence on the importance of combating conspiracy theories, involving religious institutions in vaccination campaigns, and stimulating prosocial motives to encourage vaccine uptake.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Some public officials have expressed concern that policies mandating collective public health behaviors (e.g., national/regional "lockdown") may result in behavioral fatigue that ultimately renders ...such policies ineffective. Boredom, specifically, has been singled out as one potential risk factor for noncompliance. We examined whether there was empirical evidence to support this concern during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large cross-national sample of 63,336 community respondents from 116 countries. Although boredom was higher in countries with more COVID-19 cases and in countries that instituted more stringent lockdowns, such boredom did not predict longitudinal within-person decreases in social distancing behavior (or vice versa; n = 8,031) in early spring and summer of 2020. Overall, we found little evidence that changes in boredom predict individual public health behaviors (handwashing, staying home, self-quarantining, and avoiding crowds) over time, or that such behaviors had any reliable longitudinal effects on boredom itself. In summary, contrary to concerns, we found little evidence that boredom posed a public health risk during lockdown and quarantine.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Abstract
Psychological research on the predictors of conspiracy theorizing—explaining important social and political events or circumstances as secret plots by malevolent groups—has flourished in ...recent years. However, research has typically examined only a small number of predictors in one, or a small number of, national contexts. Such approaches make it difficult to examine the relative importance of predictors, and risk overlooking some potentially relevant variables altogether. To overcome this limitation, the present study used machine learning to rank‐order the importance of 115 individual‐ and country‐level variables in predicting conspiracy theorizing. Data were collected from 56,072 respondents across 28 countries during the early weeks of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Echoing previous findings, important predictors at the individual level included societal discontent, paranoia, and personal struggle. Contrary to prior research, important country‐level predictors included indicators of political stability and effective government COVID response, which suggests that conspiracy theorizing may thrive in relatively well‐functioning democracies.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
8.
Social support and help-seeking worldwide Spence, Anjolee; Özdoğru, Asil; Tushir, Bhawna ...
Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.),
06/2024, Volume:
43, Issue:
22
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Social support has long been associated with positive physical, behavioral, and mental health outcomes. However, contextual factors such as subjective social status and an individual’s cultural ...values, heavily influence social support behaviors (e.g., perceive available social support, accept support, seek support, provide support). We sought to determine the current state of social support behaviors and the association between these behaviors, cultural values, and subjective social support across regions of the world. Data from 6,366 participants were collected by collaborators from over 50 worldwide sites (67.4% or
n
= 4292, assigned female at birth; average age of 30.76). Our results show that individuals cultural values and subjective social status varied across world regions and were differentially associated with social support behaviors. For example, individuals with higher subjective social status were more likely to indicate more perceived and received social support and help-seeking behaviors; they also indicated more provision of social support to others than individuals with lower subjective social status. Further, horizontal, and vertical collectivism were related to higher help-seeking behavior, perceived support, received support, and provision of support, whereas horizontal individualism was associated with less perceived support and less help-seeking and vertical individualism was associated with less perceived and received support, but more help-seeking behavior. However, these effects were not consistently moderated by region. These findings highlight and advance the understanding of how cross-cultural complexities and contextual distinctions influence an individual's perception, processing, and practice of social support embedded in the changing social landscape.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Virus mitigation behavior has been and still is a powerful means to fight the COVID‐19 pandemic irrespective of the availability of pharmaceutical means (e.g., vaccines). We drew on health behavior ...theories to predict health‐protective (coping‐specific) responses and hope (coping non‐specific response) from health‐related cognitions (vulnerability, severity, self‐assessed knowledge, efficacy). In an extension of this model, we proposed orientation to internal (problem‐focused coping) and external (country capability) coping resources as antecedents of health protection and hope; health‐related cognitions were assumed as mediators of this link. We tested these predictions in a large multi‐national multi‐wave study with a cross‐sectional panel at T1 (Baseline, March‐April 2020; N = 57,631 in 113 countries) and a panel subsample at two later time points, T2 (November 2020; N = 3097) and T3 (April 2021; N = 2628). Multilevel models showed that health‐related cognitions predicted health‐protective responses and hope. Problem‐focused coping was mainly linked to health‐protective behaviors (T1‐T3), whereas country capability was mainly linked to hope (T1‐T3). These relationships were partially mediated by health‐related cognitions. We conceptually replicated predictions of health behavior theories within a real health threat, further suggesting how different coping resources are associated with qualitatively distinct outcomes. Both patterns were consistent across countries and time.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Before vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became available, a set of infection-prevention behaviors constituted the primary means to mitigate the virus spread. Our study aimed to ...identify important predictors of this set of behaviors. Whereas social and health psychological theories suggest a limited set of predictors, machine-learning analyses can identify correlates from a larger pool of candidate predictors. We used random forests to rank 115 candidate correlates of infection-prevention behavior in 56,072 participants across 28 countries, administered in March to May 2020. The machine-learning model predicted 52% of the variance in infection-prevention behavior in a separate test sample—exceeding the performance of psychological models of health behavior. Results indicated the two most important predictors related to individual-level injunctive norms. Illustrating how data-driven methods can complement theory, some of the most important predictors were not derived from theories of health behavior—and some theoretically derived predictors were relatively unimportant.
•We studied predictors of COVID-19 prevention behaviors in a cross-national study•The strongest predictors related to injunctive norms
In the absence of a vaccine or cure, virus containment depended on individual-level compliance with behaviors recommended by the World Health Organization. We used machine learning to identify the most important indicators of compliance, based on a large international psychological survey and on country-level secondary data. The most important indicators were not the “usual suspects,” such as personal threat of virus infection, but rather injunctive norms—namely, the belief that one’s community should engage in such behavior and that society should take restrictive virus-containment measures. People who tend to engage in infection-prevention behaviors also tend to believe that general compliance is necessary to defeat the pandemic, which extends to endorsement of “ought” norms and support for behavioral mandates. These results highlight the potential to intervene by shaping social norms and expectations.
In a study of 56,072 participants from 28 countries, we used a machine-learning approach to identify the strongest predictors of COVID-19-infection-prevention behavior (pre-vaccine). Few country-level data variables predicted outcomes. Instead, individual psychological variables predicted outcomes. Injunctive norms such as believing people should engage in the behaviors and support for behavioral mandates were the strongest predictors of infection-prevention behavior. The results highlight how both data- and theory-driven approaches can increase understanding of complex human behavior.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
PDF
