Abstract
The novel coronavirus infection, COVID-19, is a pandemic that currently affects the whole world. During this period, Malaysians displayed a variety of behaviour changes as a response to COVID-19, including panic buying, mass travelling during movement restriction and even absconding from treatment facilities. This article attempts to explore some of these behaviour changes from a behaviourist perspective in order to get a better understanding of the rationale behind the changes.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus infection, otherwise known as COVID-19, has become the latest pandemic that has affected the whole world. After it was first described in December 2019 in China, Malaysia had their first confirmed case on the 25 January 2020 and the first confirmed death on the 17 March 2020. This was just one day before the country was placed under a strict movement restriction order (MRO)
The onset of the illness within Malaysia triggered some major changes in behaviour amongst the population; ranging from panic buying to the nonchalant approach of carrying on daily life despite the MRO
Past literature on previous crises and disasters reported similar themes in behaviour changes, but the choice of behaviour changes are explicitly adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
The novel coronavirus infection, otherwise known as COVID-19, has become the latest pandemic that has affected the whole world. This idea of illness and death plays a considerable role in shaping the behaviour and actions expressed by individuals during the COVID-19 period and will be referenced multiple times in this article It has been observed, the general public typically responds to disaster with denial. While the relationship between religion and scientific explanations can either be complementary or conflicting, one study [10] reported that individuals are still predominantly keen to take action to address the disaster they experienced This is reflected in COVID-19 where a majority of attendees at the previously mentioned gathering presented for testing [11] soon after the announcement of MRO. Going back to the network of associations, the label of COVID-19 will inevitably be associated with the idea of death; and the discriminative reaction is the choice of behaviour to avoid being infected. The authors, Shoesmith and James, had created such an intervention in 2018 named Brief Psychological Interventions for the Malaysian Setting (Unpublished), and the same intervention was adapted for use during COVID-19
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