Sevi Barış, Shook Natalie J
University of Connecticut, United States.
J Transp Health. 2022 Sep;26:101406. doi: 10.1016/j.jth.2022.101406. Epub 2022 Jun 6.
A primary means of reducing the spread of COVID-19 is avoidance of close contact with other people, particularly in closed areas. Transportation services generally require being in closed spaces with other people, which has resulted in a significant reduction in use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding individual differences associated with likelihood of using transportation services may help in targeting individuals that are hesitant to use these services. Specifically, psychological processes that encourage disease avoidance (e.g., disgust sensitivity, germ aversion) may play a key role in people's hesitancy to use transportation services. The aim of this study was to identify demographic groups that were hesitant to use transportation services during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the extent to which individual differences in disease avoidance processes are associated with the likelihood of using transportation services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A national sample of U.S. adults ( = 947) completed an online survey about the likelihood of using transportation services (i.e., public transportation, rental car, ride share, intercity trains, intercity buses, and commercial flight), germ aversion, disgust sensitivity, demographics, and control variables (e.g., COVID-19 concern).
Regression analyses indicated that greater germ aversion was associated with lower likelihood of transportation use for all measured transportation services, controlling for disgust sensitivity, demographics, and control variables. Older age and higher COVID-19 concern were associated with lower likelihood of using most of the transportation services, while town size was associated with greater likelihood of using public transportation and ride share.
Overall, germ aversion was consistently uniquely associated with lower likelihood of transportation service use. In the process of getting back to normal after the COVID-19 threat is reduced, structuring messages that target hesitant populations and use malleable psychological mechanisms like disease avoidance may aid in encouraging behavior change and increase transportation service use.
减少新冠病毒传播的主要方法之一是避免与他人密切接触，尤其是在封闭空间内。交通服务通常需要与他人共处封闭空间，这导致在新冠疫情期间其使用率大幅下降。了解与使用交通服务可能性相关的个体差异，可能有助于针对那些对使用这些服务犹豫不决的人群。具体而言，鼓励疾病规避的心理过程（如厌恶敏感性、病菌厌恶）可能在人们对使用交通服务的犹豫中起关键作用。本研究的目的是确定在新冠疫情期间对使用交通服务犹豫不决的人口群体，并确定疾病规避过程中的个体差异在多大程度上与新冠疫情期间使用交通服务的可能性相关。
一个由947名美国成年人组成的全国性样本完成了一项关于使用交通服务（即公共交通、租车、拼车、城际列车、城际巴士和商业航班）的可能性、病菌厌恶、厌恶敏感性、人口统计学特征以及控制变量（如对新冠病毒的担忧）的在线调查。
回归分析表明，在控制了厌恶敏感性、人口统计学特征和控制变量后，对于所有测量的交通服务，更高的病菌厌恶与更低的使用可能性相关。年龄较大和对新冠病毒的更高担忧与使用大多数交通服务的可能性较低相关，而城镇规模与使用公共交通和拼车的可能性较高相关。
总体而言，病菌厌恶一直与较低的交通服务使用可能性独特相关。在新冠威胁降低后恢复正常的过程中，构建针对犹豫不决人群且利用诸如疾病规避等可塑心理机制的信息，可能有助于鼓励行为改变并增加交通服务的使用。
