Open AccessPeers for the fearless: Social norms facilitate preventive behaviour when individuals perceive low COVID-19 health risks
Author(s) -
Bernhard Kittel,
Fabian Kalleitner,
David W. Schiestl
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260171
Subject(s) - moderation , psychological intervention , social norms approach , perception , psychology , social psychology , pandemic , compliance (psychology) , social influence , politics , risk perception , covid-19 , public relations , environmental health , political science , medicine , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , neuroscience , psychiatry , law
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.