Kuper-Smith Benjamin J, Doppelhofer Lisa M, Oganian Yulia, Rosenblau Gabriela, Korn Christoph W
Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Section Social Neuroscience, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
R Soc Open Sci. 2021 Nov 10;8(11):210904. doi: 10.1098/rsos.210904. eCollection 2021 Nov.
Slowing the spread of COVID-19 requires people to actively change their lives by following protective practices, such as physical distancing and disinfecting their hands. Perceptions about the personal risk of COVID-19 may affect compliance with these practices. In this study, we assessed risk perception and optimism about COVID-19 in a multinational (UK, USA and Germany), longitudinal design during the early stages of the pandemic (16 March 2020; 1 April 2020; 20 May 2020). Our main findings are that (i) people showed a comparative optimism bias about getting infected and infecting others, but not for getting severe symptoms, (ii) this optimism bias did not change over time, (iii) optimism bias seemed to relate to perceived level of control over the action, (iv) risk perception was linked to publicly available information about the disorder, (v) people reported adhering closely to protective measures but these measures did not seem to be related to risk perception, and (vi) risk perception was related to questions about stress and anxiety. In additional cross-sectional samples, we replicated our most important findings. Our open and partly preregistered results provide detailed descriptions of risk perceptions and optimistic beliefs during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in three Western countries.
减缓新冠病毒的传播需要人们通过遵循诸如保持社交距离和勤洗手等防护措施来积极改变生活方式。对感染新冠病毒个人风险的认知可能会影响对这些措施的遵守情况。在本研究中，我们在疫情早期阶段（2020年3月16日；2020年4月1日；2020年5月20日）采用多国（英国、美国和德国）纵向设计评估了对新冠病毒的风险认知和乐观态度。我们的主要发现是：（i）人们在感染他人和被他人感染方面表现出比较乐观的偏差，但在出现严重症状方面并非如此；（ii）这种乐观偏差并未随时间变化；（iii）乐观偏差似乎与对行动的感知控制水平有关；（iv）风险认知与关于该疾病的公开信息相关；（v）人们报告称严格遵守防护措施，但这些措施似乎与风险认知无关；（vi）风险认知与压力和焦虑问题相关。在其他横断面样本中，我们重复了最重要的发现。我们公开且部分预先注册的结果详细描述了三个西方国家在新冠疫情早期阶段的风险认知和乐观信念。
