Abstract
First-person experience of stressful life events can change individuals' risk attitudes, driving to increased or decreased risk perception. This shift to more risk-averse or risk-loving behaviors may find a correlate in the individual psycho-socio-emotional profile. To this purpose, we aimed to estimate the relationship between differences in risk-taking attitudes toward possible negative health outcomes and psycho-socio-emotional dimensions modulating the experience of life-threatening situations, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2020, we launched the PsyCovid Study (https://wprn.org/item/428452) to assess psycho-socio-emotional changes due to Covid-19 pandemic in the Italian population. Additionally, we distributed to 130 participants the Covid-19 Risk Task, including monetary and health-related stimuli, estimating a measure of risk-aversion toward health and classifying participants on the basis of their risk-attitude profiles. The set of psycho-socio-emotional variables was reduced to three PCA components: Proactivity, Isolation, Inactivity. The individual degree of risk-aversion toward negative health outcomes was directly related to Proactivity, encasing empathic, social support and positive coping strategies, which may prompt individuals to put in place self-protection strategies toward possible negative health consequences. These findings indicate that a risk-averse profile toward possible negative health outcomes may be associated to higher levels of individual prosocial and proactive dispositions, possibly making individuals' more compliant with the social and hygienic guidelines and, thus, reducing their exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Highlights
Was one of the first countries in the world, and the very first Western country, to be severely affected by the SARS-CoV2 virus, starting from February 2020
Into the context of Covid-19 pandemic, we showed that the perception of the outbreak impact for health could be modulated by the degree of loneliness and distress (Cerami et al, 2020b), as well as by proactive and prosocial attitudes, including empathy, social support and positive coping strategies (Cerami et al, 2020a)
Covid-19 pandemic is putting the whole society to the test
Summary
Was one of the first countries in the world, and the very first Western country, to be severely affected by the SARS-CoV2 virus, starting from February 2020. After the first lockdown (Mar-May, 2020), the incidence of psychiatric syndromes and psychosocial distress increased significantly in Italy (Sani et al, 2020), as well as in all other countries (Serafini et al, 2020; Torales et al, 2020). Such a new growth of contagions further boosts people’s experience of anxiety and distress (Mazza et al, 2020). Interindividual differences in risk-taking attitudes – reflecting the subjective willingness to take risks - might represent a crucial variable capable to modulate decision-making and risktaking behaviors toward negative health outcomes, which concern the individuals’ compliance with Covid-19 containment measures (e.g., social distancing, fiduciary isolation, mask use)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
