Modeling Individual Defiance of COVID-19 Pandemic Mitigation Strategies: Insights From the Expanded Model of Deterrence and Protection Motivation Theory

Abstract

The governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic include concerns for both public health and formal social control. Government leaders asked the public to help mitigate the spread of the virus by adopting various protective behaviors. Our purpose was to evaluate and explain defiance of COVID-19 mitigation strategies, drawing from the expanded model of deterrence and protection motivation theory. A national sample of 600 American adults were surveyed about perceptions of, and behaviors during, the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, including defiance of COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Perceived severity of the disease, certainty about dying from it, and how much control one has over getting it each predicted fear of COVID-19. Defiance of COVID-19 mitigation guidelines appear to be a combination of rational choice considerations and emotions. Government and health officials should consider how the public evaluates messages about taking protective actions to maximize compliance.

Citizen Compliance with Pandemic Rules in China: Exploring the Effects of Emotional States, Peer Influence, and Policing

“…Our findings are consistent with the results from previous studies, which demonstrated a positive association between fear of COVID-19 or perceived threat of COVID-19 and people’s compliance and protective behaviors (Burruss et al, 2021 ; Harper et al, 2020 ; Kuiper et al, 2020 ; McCarthy et al, 2021 ; Oosterhoff et al, 2020 ; Van Rooij et al, 2020 ). Thus, even though fear represents a form of negative emotion that tends to pose risks to people’s long-term wellbeing, our findings suggest that it has an effect of quickly and sufficiently motivating individuals to adopt protective behaviors and comply with public rules to minimize the risks of infection.…”

“…A Dutch study (Kuiper et al, 2020 ) and a US study (Van Rooij et al, 2020 ) found that the perceived threat of COVID-19 predicted better compliance behavior. Another recent US study (Burruss et al, 2021 ) also found a link between fear of COVID-19 and compliance with pandemic rules. The study showed that rational choice considerations, including the perceived severity of the disease, certainty about dying from it, and how much perceived control that one has over getting it predicted fear of COVID-19, which, in turn, predicted compliance with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines along with rational choice considerations.…”

Concern, Cynicism, and the Coronavirus: Assessing the Influence of Instrumental and Normative Factors on Individual Defiance of COVID-19 Mitigation Guidelines

“…Possible responses ranged from 1 (Always) to 5 (Never). These items were used to create the latent factor for defiance, with a higher score indicating more non-compliance with federal CDC guidelines (Burruss et al, 2021).…”

“…Some of this work has focused on instrumental considerations. Burruss et al (2021) found that perceived disease severity, certainty of death associated with the virus, and control over the spread of the COVID-19 virus resulted in heightened fear, which ultimately increased compliance with COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (see also Al-Sabbagh et al, 2021). These findings are further supported by several recent studies concluding that fear, perceived health risk, and perceived control of the coronavirus are associated with more compliance with mitigation guidelines (e.g., Brouard et al, 2020; Harper et al, 2020; McCarthy et al, 2021; Wise et al, 2020).…”

Crime, Criminal Justice System, and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Their paper focuses on China, a country in which the police were viewed as the last resort for the enforcement of such restrictive measures, while in other countries around the world the police were the primary enforcers of the newly developed rules restricting citizens’ behavior in response to the pandemic. Extant research indicates that the fear of being infected with COVID-19 enhances citizens’ decisions to obey restrictive measures (e.g., Burruss et al, 2021 ; Van Rooij et al, 2020 ). Shen and colleagues’ paper pushes the issue farther as the authors add measures of pandemic stress and peer influence, as well measures of perceived frequency of police presence and evaluations of police competence into the models.…”