Factors related to compliance with official guidelines of covid-19 measures among Iranian population: The predictive role of social alienation, trust and morality

Abstract

Objective: Despite the development of various vaccines to combat Covid-19, adopting preventive behaviors are still the first line of struggle. There exist vast differences in the way people comply with the rules. Some are committed to restrictions laid down by the government, while others disrespect the rules. Therefore, understanding the underlying structures of behavioral management was the purpose of the present study. We aim to examine the contribution of moral standards, sense of social alienation, and institutional trust in predicting compliance with Covid-19 rules. Method: The study design is cross-sectional and data collection was done for two months through online social media. The sample of the study was obtained from 465 of the general population with an average age of 30.01 years (SD=7.04). Analysis of data was done by SPSS version 25. Results: correlation and regression analysis were done to obtain the predictive power of study variables. Findings show that social alienation, institutional trust, and moral standards explain 33% of the variance of compliance [R2 = 0.33, F (461) = 7.68, p = 0.001]. Conclusion: The results of the present study not only contribute to theory development but also provide implications to the governance of Covid-19. It seems that strengthening trust and moral standards along with expanding the sense of cohesion will help to improve compliance with health regulations imposed during Covid-19 and end this tedious period as soon as possible.