Investigation of the effects of psychological factors on implementing protective behaviors against coronavirus

Abstract

Objective: This study aims at investigating the psychological factors that may influence the implementation of protective behaviors of Turkish people against the novel coronavirus pandemic. For this purpose, the relationship between the implementation of the protective behaviors and risk perception, risk taking behaviors, positive and negative affect and coping strategies were examined. Method: Data collection tools were The Protective Behavior Implementation Scale, The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, The Ways of Coping with Stress Scale and The Sensation Seeking-Risk Taking Scale. 364 of the participants were female and 193 were male. The age range was 20-64 and the mean age was 34.69. Results: The hierarchical regression analysis showed that a positive relationship between age, sex and protective behaviors exists. Another positive relationship was found between protective behaviors, risk perception and positive affect. Moreover, a negative relationship was present between submissive coping and protective behaviors. Discussion: Psychological factors are influential on the implementation of the protective behaviors against the coronavirus. As the perceived risk regarding the disease increases, protective behaviors are elevated. Else, the increasement in the protective behaviors are related to the positive affect. People who carry out protective behaviors are observed not to be using submissive coping. This may be related to the self-control perception. In addition to that, increased age is associated with applying more protective behaviors and women are found to be more likely to use protective behaviors than men. The study is important as it investigated the impact of psychological factors on cultural settings.