Why do Muslims engage in adaptive worship behavior during the pandemic? The role of protection motives and religiosity

This study aims to investigate whether the protection motivation theory (PMT) and religiosity can explain the intention of at-home worship adaptive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study further explores factors that may affect this adaptive behavior, namely, the intention to adapt behavior, religiosity, social influence and trust in the government.

Data were collected through an online survey to purposively sample the respondents, resulting in 368 responses that were valid for structural analysis using partial least squares structual equation modeling (SEM).

This study found that PMT, and not religiosity, directly predicts an individual’s intention to adapt his/her behavior to at-home worship during the pandemic. Religiosity, however, has a role in evoking a coping appraisal that leads to the intention to enact the adaptive behavior. Further, this study found that intention, social influence and trust in the government predict an individual’s adaptive behavior for at-home worship.

This study may guide the government to create a policy that could enhance people’s adherence to adaptive behavior during the pandemic, particularly regarding their communication strategy by focusing on the cognitive and psychological aspects. In particular, framing based on this study’s result may serve as an insight for better prevention of virus transmission through a focused communications strategy.

First, the utilization of PMT to explain adaptive behavior in the context of at-home worship during the pandemic was extended. Second, the research of religiosity in the context of a pandemic was advanced and how it influences adaptive behavior was investigated. Finally, the utilization of partial least squares-SEM techniques to investigate individual adaptive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was extended.