The United Nations have described the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the worst global crisis since the second world war. Behavioral protective measures, such as good hand hygiene and social distancing, may strongly affect infection and fatality rates worldwide. In two studies (total N = 962), we aimed to identify central predictors of acceptance and adoption of protective measures, including sociodemographic variables, risk perception, and trust. We found that men and younger participants show lower acceptance and adoption of protective measures, suggesting that it is crucial to develop targeted health messages for these groups. Moreover, trust in politics and trust in science emerged as important predictors for the acceptance and adoption of protective measures. These results show that maintaining and ideally strengthening trust in politics and trust in science might be central for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations have described the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the worst global crisis since the second world war. Behavioral protective measures, such as good hand hygiene and social distancing, may strongly affect infection and fatality rates worldwide. In two studies (total N = 962), we aimed to identify central predictors of acceptance and adoption of protective measures, including sociodemographic variables, risk perception, and trust. We found that men and younger participants show lower acceptance and adoption of protective measures, suggesting that it is crucial to develop targeted health messages for these groups. Moreover, trust in politics and trust in science emerged as important predictors for the acceptance and adoption of protective measures. We discuss factors that contribute to the development of trust and derive implications for effective health communication during COVID-19.

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Some people believe that their own health is rather malleable and can be changed (incremental theory), whereas other people believe that their health is relatively fixed (entity theory). Previous research suggests that individuals who hold a strong incremental theory of health have more positive health‐related attitudes and engage in more health‐promoting behaviors in everyday life. However, less is known about the interpersonal effects of an incremental theory of health. A strong incremental theory of health could have detrimental consequences, such as increasing blame and reducing social support towards others who are ill. To test this, two studies (Study 1: N = 433, Study 2: N = 397) were conducted in which implicit theories of health (incremental vs. entity) were experimentally manipulated, and participants were presented with vignettes describing individuals suffering from different illnesses. The dependent variables included blame, sympathy, outcome expectancy, and social support. Study 1 demonstrated that an incremental theory of health increased blame towards people suffering from an illness, regardless of whether a physical or mental illness was presented, and blame indirectly attenuated social support. Study 2 showed that an incremental theory increased outcome expectancy, which indirectly amplified social support. In sum, this research suggests that an incremental theory of health may decrease social support via blame, but increases in outcome expectancy may counteract this effect.

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