Coronavirus risk perception and compliance with social distancing measures in a sample of young adults: Evidence from Switzerland

Abstract

The health risk of the coronavirus pandemic is age-specific. The symptoms of a COVID-19 infection are usually mild in the healthy population below the age of 65; however, the measures laid down to prevent the spread of the virus apply typically to the whole population. Hence, those who have a low risk of severe symptoms face a social dilemma in cooperating and complying with the safety measures: Cooperating in preventing the spread of the disease is good for society but comes with individual costs. These costs provide an incentive not to cooperate with the safety measures. In this paper we analyze via structural equation modelling a sample of young adults (N = 510) who were surveyed right after the end of the first lockdown period in Switzerland. We investigate why and to what extent they cooperated in preventing the epidemic by following the recommendation to stay at home as much as possible. We hypothesize that those respondents who perceive themselves to be personally at risk, or who have relatives belonging to the risk group, complied more often with the safety measures as compared to those without severe risks. Cooperating should also be linked to individuals’ pro-social orientation. Furthermore, we hypothesize that those who believe that the virus is dangerous for society or who have a personal interest in protection show higher support for the general safety measures. Our empirical results show that compliance with the coronavirus social distancing measures was generally very high during the first lockdown. Although young adults perceived themselves to be at low personal risk, they still believed that the virus is dangerous for society. Those who had a personal interest in staying at home because they had relatives belonging to the risk group complied more often with the safety measures. Overall, the results suggest that the support of the preventive measures is the most important promoter of cooperation to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, compliance with the preventive measures, and trust in government medical officials

“…Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that women and older participants reported higher levels of compliance with official pandemic guidelines. These results are consistent with previous research showing that women and slightly older participants were more likely to engage in health-protective behaviours Franzen & Wöhner, 2021;Galasso et al, 2020). As for the age effect, one possibility is that older people are more concerned about possible infection and perceive greater risk because symptom severity and mortality rates increase with age.…”

Differences in Perceived Risk of Contracting SARS-CoV-2 during and after the Lockdown in Sub-Saharan African Countries

“…The sigh of relief brought about by the post-lockdown era had a serious effect on the younger age groups who, at that time, had a lower risk perception for contracting the infection, as seen in a study by Dillard et al [ 30 ]. The perceived low risk of infection by younger respondents may make them less cooperative and less compliant with the safety measures [ 34 ], thus encouraging the spread of the virus while putting a greater part of the population at risk of COVID-19 infections [ 29 , 30 ]. This finding could be attributable to the fact that younger people are the more active age group in any given population.…”

Time patterns of precautionary health behaviours during an easing phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

“…A Japanese study highlights the importance of awareness and knowledge as being informed about COVID-19 was associated with a more precautious behaviour (Shiina et al 2020 ). Based on a sample of students in Switzerland, Franzen and Wöhner ( 2021 ) found that personal interests in staying at home (i.e. having high-risk relatives) increased compliance.…”