While different antecedents have been examined to explain peoples’ reactions towards COVID-19, there is only scarce understanding about the role of the subjective closeness and distance to the pandemic. Within the current study, we applied the concept of psychological distance to understand the distance towards COVID-19 and investigated its (1) connection with preventive attitudes and proactive behaviors, (2) context-specific antecedents, and its (3) mediating effect of knowledge on attitudes. Using an online sample from a German quantitative cross-sectional study (N = 395, M = 32.2 years, SD = 13.9 years, 64.3% female) in July 2020, a time with a general low incidence of people infected with Sars-CoV2, we measured relevant socio-psychological constructs addressing COVID-19 and included further information from external sources. Based on a path model, we found geographical distance as a significant predictor of cognitive attitudes towards COVID-19. Furthermore, hypothetical distance (i.e., feeling to be likely affected by COVID-19) predicted not only participants’ affective, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes, but also the installation of a corona warning-app. While several variables affected the different dimensions of psychological distance, hypothetical and geographical distance mediated the effect of knowledge on attitudes. These results underline the role of geographical and hypothetical distance for health-related behaviors and education. For example, people will only comply with preventive measures if they feel geographically concerned by the disease, which is particularly challenging for fast-spreading global diseases such as COVID-19. Therefore, there is a need to clearly communicate the personal risks of diseases and address peoples’ hypothetical distance.

虽然已经研究了不同的前因来解释人们对 COVID-19 的反应，但人们对主观上与大流行病的亲近程度和距离的作用知之甚少。在当前的研究中，我们应用心理距离的概念来理解与 COVID-19 的距离，并调查其 (1) 与预防态度和主动行为的联系，(2) 特定背景的前因，以及 (3)关于态度的知识。使用来自德国定量横断面研究的在线样本（N  = 395，M  = 32.2 岁，SD = 13.9 岁，64.3% 女性）在 2020 年 7 月，即感染 Sars-CoV2 的人的发病率普遍较低的时期，我们测量了针对 COVID-19 的相关社会心理结构，并纳入了来自外部来源的更多信息。基于路径模型，我们发现地理距离是对 COVID-19 认知态度的重要预测指标。此外，假设的距离（即感觉可能受到 COVID-19 的影响）不仅可以预测参与者的情感、认知和行为态度，还可以预测电晕警告应用程序的安装。虽然有几个变量影响心理距离的不同维度，但假设和地理距离介导了知识对态度的影响。这些结果强调了地理距离和假设距离对健康相关行为和教育的作用。例如，只有当人们对这种疾病感到地理上的担忧时，他们才会遵守预防措施，这对于 COVID-19 等快速传播的全球疾病尤其具有挑战性。因此，需要清楚地传达疾病的个人风险并解决人们的假设距离。