Abstract
Specific risk attitude and risky behavior had an important boost during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this contribution, we hypothesize that access to nature during home confinement will decrease both the tendency to passive risk taking and alcohol intake. To do so, we interviewed through an online survey two samples of Italian residents during the strict lockdown due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, in Study 1, participants were 1519 Italian residents coming from different Italian regions, whilst in Study 2, participants were 182 students at a university of southern Italy who were monitored for one week. In Study 1, the hierarchical regression analysis attested that access to nature during the lockdown mitigated the tendency to passive risk taking, over and beyond the effect of socio-demographic variables and the psychological construct of impulsiveness, an important personality correlate of risk taking. In Study 2, the hierarchical regression showed that access to green was associated with fewer glasses of alcohol drunk in a week of lockdown. This effect held over and above the effect of socio-demographic variables and the drinking behavior before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In both studies, findings confirmed the beneficial effect of access to nature in specific risk-taking domains. Theoretical future directions, as well as practical implications for the management of the COVID-19 emergency by policymakers, are discussed.
Highlights
IntroductionWe mean the individual conscious exposure to possible loss or injury [1]
For risk taking, we mean the individual conscious exposure to possible loss or injury [1]
In the current research (Study 2), we focus on alcohol intake for three reasons: first, it represents a use of a legal substance, accessible during lockdowns; second, it is relatively easier to study as it is not subjected to legal repercussions, and in turn, it shows a reduced social desirability effect; third, available data report an increment in such behavior, which is often related to other important consequences that face an increment during home confinement, such as domestic violence [21]
Summary
We mean the individual conscious exposure to possible loss or injury [1]. Risk is a concept that cannot be avoided. This unexpected event, a black swan [2], contributed to raise indefiniteness and unpredictability. From the analysis of past major social adverse events such as natural disasters and economic depressions (the so-called exogenous shocks), we know that, as a consequence, individuals and the whole society undergo a state of shock [3]. The levels of psychological health decrease, negative emotions and anxiety symptoms rise, depicting, we may say, a general state of fear, learned helplessness, and pessimism [4,5,6,7,8]. It is not surprising that individuals during an exogenous shock exhibit more risk aversion
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