engleski

Protective behaviours during the pandemic: the importance of self-protection and solidarity with others

As an initial response to the spread of the coronavirus, a number of protective measures were announced, such as physical distancing and wearing masks. Recently, vaccines became available as another way to prevent the spread of the virus. Both adherence to protective measures and vaccination can reflect desire to protect oneself from infection. They can also be a sign of compassion and solidarity with others, especially among those who are not at risk of becoming seriously ill. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the importance of self-protection (i.e. the concern of being affected) and solidarity in the prediction of adherence to protective measures and vaccination intentions while controlling for gender and age. Additionally, we have investigated the moderating effect of the perceived risk of severe illness from the coronavirus in the relation between the aforementioned predictors and outcomes. A total of 945 adults (50.6% women) participated in the study. The mean age was M = 44.96 (SD = 15.40), ranging from 18 to 74. Participants were recruited from the general public of Croatia using the CAWI (computer-assisted web interviewing) method during January of 2021. The sample was a stratified probabilistic sample with gender, age, level of education, size of the place of residence, and region of the country as predetermined strata. All measures were developed for the purpose of this study. The first regression model with an adherence to protective measures as an outcome variable explained 38.2% of the variance. Results indicate that women (β = .14 ; t = 5.13 ; p < .001), those more concerned of being infected (β = .27 ; t = 7.51 ; p < .001) and those who show more solidarity during pandemic (β = .44 ; t = 12.76 ; p < .001) were more prone to adhere to protective measures. The effect of the solidarity was stronger for those who do not consider themselves to be in a risk group (β = -.17 ; t = -4.95 ; p < .001). The second regression model with vaccination intentions as an outcome explained 25.9% of the variance. Men (β = -.10 ; t = -3.20 ; p < .01), older participants (β = .16 ; t = 4.79 ; p < .001), those more concerned of being infected (β = .20 ; t = 5.03 ; p < .001) and those who show more solidarity during pandemic (β = .34 ; t = 9.01 ; p < .001) had a greater intention to vaccinate. There was no significant moderation effect of the perceived risk for oneself. To summarize, the results suggest that both importance of self-protection and solidarity with others play an important role in protective behaviours during the pandemic. However, solidarity with others seems to be especially important. This study findings may be of help in public health campaign in order to motivate people to persist in protective behaviors during different stages of pandemic.

adherence to protective measures ; vaccination intentions ; importance of self-protection ; solidarity with others during the pandemic

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