Romanians’ willingness to comply with restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from an online survey

Corbu, Nicoleta; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena; Udrea, Georgiana; Radu, Loredana

doi:10.1080/00909882.2021.1912378

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Fighting and overcoming the current pandemic has become one of the most difficult issues of public concern, especially in countries such as Romania, where vaccination and mass immunization rates are discouragingly low at the moment, despite the fourth pandemic wave we have just entered [97]. The widespread acceptance of a vaccine against COVID-19 is essential both for self-protection and the protection of others, but appears to be hindered by various factors, among which conspiratorial claims and narratives play a key role [7,98]. These narratives have become increasingly popular since COVID-19-related (online) news consumption has increased dramatically, as a natural consequence of people's interest in this completely new and unexpected respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

et al. 2021

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The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

et al. 2021

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“…Notable barriers are low general trust in others ( Horstmann et al., 2021 ), misconceptions surrounding the apps, for example, that contact tracing would involve some form of ‘mapping’ that would be visible to others ( Williams et al., 2021 ), and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories ( Banai, Banai & Mikloušić, 2021 ; Corbu, Negrea-Busuioc, Udrea & Radu, 2021 ). To this are added fear of stigmatization ( Williams et al., 2021 ) and individualistic worldviews ( Dryhurst et al., 2020 ), as well as low technical skills, problems with downloading or installing apps, and lack of technical equipment or not having appropriate devices ( Horstmann et al., 2021 ).…”

Section: Contact-tracing Apps: Public Acceptancementioning

confidence: 99%

I use a COVID-19 contact-tracing app. Do you? Regulatory focus and the intention to engage with contact-tracing technology

Ross

2021

International Journal of Information Management Data Insights

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Based on regulatory focus theory, it is proposed that there is a relationship between the intention to use COVID-19 contact-tracing apps and goal-directed motivation. Two studies tested this proposal. Study 1 examined the relationship between participants’ chronic regulatory focus and the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Apps usage intention was positively associated with prevention focus. A mediation analysis showed that the relationship between prevention focus and apps usage intention was mediated by privacy and information security concerns. The stronger the prevention focus, the weaker the concerns, thus, the stronger the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Study 2 used priming to have participants adopt either a momentary promotion or prevention focus, after which they were asked about their intention to use contact-tracing apps. A situationally induced regulatory focus influenced the intention to use contact-tracing apps. A moderation analysis showed that age moderated the relationship between regulatory focus and apps usage intention.

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“…Even though the influence is weak, the findings are still important because we already know that citizens take into consideration other factors when deciding to comply with restrictive measures. For example, Corbu et al (2021), based on an online survey of Romanian citizens, found that individuals' compliance with anti-coronavirus measures is influenced by news consumption, feelings of uncertainty and confidence in conspiracy theories, in addition to trust in institutions.…”

Section: Influence Of Trust On Compliance With Restrictive Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

"Trust in Public Institutions and Compliance With Measures Against Covid-19 Pandemic. Case Study on Metropolitan Area of Cluj, Romania"

Radu

2021

TRAS

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The goal of this article is to analyze the level of citizens’ trust in different public institutions during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and the influence of citizens’ trust on their compliance with the measures adopted to prevent the spread of the virus. The research was conducted between November and December 2020 on a sample of 700 residents of Metropolitan Area of Cluj, Romania. During the time of data collection, Romania registered the largest number of daily COVID-19 cases, therefore, citizens’ compliance with preventive measures was crucial to contain the spread of the virus. Citizens reported high levels of compliance with preventive measures. However, even though people were recommended to avoid meetings with relatives and friends, and participation to private events with large number of people, respondents reported that did not fully comply with social distancing requirements. Citizens have highest level of trust in the public institutions at local level, medical institutions and County Committees for Emergency Situations. The research found that trust in public institutions influences the compliance with preventive measures; however, the influence is weak and the trust in different institutions influences differently policy compliance.

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Romanians’ willingness to comply with restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from an online survey

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

I use a COVID-19 contact-tracing app. Do you? Regulatory focus and the intention to engage with contact-tracing technology

"Trust in Public Institutions and Compliance With Measures Against Covid-19 Pandemic. Case Study on Metropolitan Area of Cluj, Romania"

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