Three Pillars of Physical Distancing: Anxiety, Prosociality, and Rule Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mathias Twardawski,Isabel Thielmann,Lena Steindorf

doi:10.1525/collabra.22511

Abstract

The outbreak of a global pandemic such as COVID-19 poses a challenge for societies across the world. Lacking both vaccination and medical treatment, the only way to combat the spread of a virus in its early stages are behavioral measures, particularly physical distancing behavior. The present work proposes three pillars of individuals’ engagement in physical distancing: anxiety, prosociality, and rule compliance. In a large (N = 1,504), pre-registered study among German adults, we studied both situation-specific tendencies and stable personality traits that are theoretically associated with these pillars in relation to self-reported physical distancing behavior and underlying motives. Results supported the importance of each of the proposed pillars for physical distancing behavior. That is, for each pillar, we found (some) relations of the corresponding tendencies and personality traits with physical distancing (motives) as expected. Overall, the project provides a comprehensive picture of physical distancing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

The outbreak of a global pandemic such as COVID-19 poses a challenge for societies across the world
To provide a comprehensive picture of physical distancing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, we study both situation-specific tendencies and stable personality traits associated with each of the proposed pillars
The present study considers situation-specific tendencies and stable personality traits associated with the three proposed pillars of physical distancing, as well as knowledge, need for cognition, and personal and collective efficacy beliefs as predictors of physical distancing behavior during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

The outbreak of a global pandemic such as COVID-19 poses a challenge for societies across the world. We propose and illuminate three classes of factors – or pillars – that are arguably crucial for individuals’ engagement in physical distancing behavior: (a) anxiety resulting from the inherently uncertain situation, (b) prosociality in terms of accepting personal sacrifices for the sake of others’ wellbeing, and (c) rule compliance as governments strongly urged their citizens to engage in physical distancing. Within these classes, we aim to integrate situation-specific tendencies (e.g., beliefs and appraisals) as well as personality traits (e.g., dimensions from the HEXACO model) to provide a more holistic picture of the processes at play

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Conclusion