Abstract

In this study, we present results from five cross-sectional surveys on public risk perception of COVID-19 and its association with health protective behaviours in the UK over a 10-month period (March 2020 to January 2021). Samples were nationally balanced on age, gender, and ethnicity (total N = 6,281). We find that although risk perception varies between the time points surveyed, it is consistently, significantly, and positively correlated with the reported adoption of protective health behaviours, such as wearing face masks or social distancing. There is also an increase in reported health protective behaviours in the UK between March 2020 and January 2021. The strength of the association between risk perception and behaviour varies by time point, with a stronger relationship in January 2021 compared to March and May 2020. We also assess the stability of the psychological determinants of risk perception over time. People’s prosocial tendencies and individualistic worldviews, experience with the virus, trust in government, science, and medical professionals, as well as personal and collective efficacy all emerged as significant predictors. With few exceptions, these predictors remained consistent in their relationship with risk perception over time. Lastly, we find that psychological factors are more predictive of risk perception than an objective measure of situational severity, i.e. the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the time of data collection. Implications for risk communication are discussed.

摘要

在这项研究中，我们提供了五个横断面调查的结果，这些调查涉及英国在10个月内（2020年3月至2021年1月）对COVID-19的公众风险感知及其与健康防护行为的关系。样本在年龄，性别和种族方面在全国范围内保持平衡（总N = 6,281）。我们发现，尽管风险感知在所调查的时间点之间有所不同，但与报告的采用保护性健康行为（例如戴口罩或社交疏远）一致，显着且正相关。在2020年3月至2021年1月之间，英国的健康保护行为举报也有所增加。风险感知与行为之间的关联强度随时间点而变化，与2020年3月和2020年5月相比，2021年1月的关系更紧密。我们还可以评估风险感知的心理决定因素随时间推移的稳定性。人们的亲社会倾向和个人主义世界观，对病毒的经验，对政府，科学和医学专业人士的信任，以及个人和集体效能都成为重要的预测指标。除少数例外，随着时间的推移，这些预测变量与风险感知之间的关系保持一致。最后，我们发现，心理因素比情境严重程度的客观衡量标准（即在数据收集时确诊的COVID-19病例数）更能预测风险感知。讨论了风险沟通的含义。