Unrealistic optimism and HEXACO traits as predictors of risk perception and compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures during the first wave of pandemic

Authors

  • Milan Oljača Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
  • Selka Sadiković Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
  • Bojan Branovački Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
  • Dejan Pajić Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
  • Snežana Smederevac Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
  • Dušanka Mitrović Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.20.4.405-425

Keywords:

compliance to protective measures, COVID-19, HEXACO, risk perception, unrealistic optimism

Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine possible differences and factors that contribute to risk perception and compliance with preventive measures at the beginning (T1) and the end (T2) of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 423 participants (M = 30.29, SD = 14.45; 69% female). Compliance, risk perception and trust in information were significantly higher in T1 than T2. For risk perception, significant predictors in both T1 and T2 were age, Emotionality (HEXACO-PI-R) and Unrealistic Optimism (NLE, Negative Life Events). Trust in information was a significant predictor in T1, while Unrealistic Optimism (Positive Life Events) was a significant predictor in T2. For compliance, significant predictors in T1 were gender and trust in information while in T2 were Emotionality, Extraversion, Conscientiousness (HEXACO-PI-R), NLE and trust in information, for both T1 and T2. In general, findings suggest a much more pronounced role of personality traits in adherence to protective measures at the end than at the beginning of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. Also, the results indicate the role of unrealistic optimism regarding negative life events in lower compliance with protective measures.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Abdelrahman, M. K. (April, 2020). Personality traits, risk perception, and protective behaviors of Arab residents of Qatar during the COVID-19 pandemic. PsyArXiv Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/6g7kh

Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(2), 150–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868306294907

Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2008). The HEXACO model of personality structure and the importance of the H factor. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1952–1962. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00134.x

Bacon, A. M., & Corr, P. J. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID‐19) in the United Kingdom: A personality‐based perspective on concerns and intention to self‐isolate. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25(4), 839–848. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12423.

Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2004). Conscientiousness and health-related behaviors: A meta-analysis of the leading behavioral contributors to mortality. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 887–919. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.6.887

Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59(1), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.59.1.20

Bottemanne, H., Morlaàs, O., Fossati, P., & Schmidt, L. (2020). Does the Coronavirus Epidemic Take Advantage of Human Optimism Bias? Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02001

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395 (10227), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8

Brouard, S., Vasilopoulos, P., & Becher, M. (2020). Sociodemographic and Psychological Correlates of Compliance with the COVID-19 Public Health Measures in France. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 53(2), 253–258. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008423920000335

Bruine de Bruin, W. (2020). Age differences in COVID-19 risk perceptions and mental health: Evidence from a national US survey conducted in March 2020. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B., 20, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa074

Carvalho, L. D. F., Pianowski, G., & Gonçalves, A. P. (2020). Personality differences and COVID-19: are extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits associated with engagement with containment measures? Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 42(2), 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1590/2237-6089-2020-0029

Chambers, J. R., Windschitl, P. D., & Suls, J. (2003). Egocentrism, event frequency, and comparative optimism: When what happens frequently is “more likely to happen to me”. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(11), 1343–1356. https://doi.org/10.1037/e633872013-190

Chen, B., Sun, J., & Feng, Y. (2020). How have COVID-19 isolation policies affected young people’s mental health? – Evidence from Chinese college students. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01529

Cohen, J. (1977). The Concepts of Power Analysis. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-179060-8.50006-2

Čolović, P., Mitrović, D. i Smederevac, S. (2010). Procena nerealističkog optimizma [An assessment of unrealistic optimism]. In M. Biro, S. Smederevac, & Z. Novović (Eds.) Procena psiholoških i psihopatoloških fenomena [Assessment of psychological and psychopathological phenomena] (pp. 101–110). Centar za primenjenu psihologiju.

Costa, P. T. Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.

Cowling, B. J., Ng, D. M., Ip, D. K., Liao, Q., Lam, W. W., Wu, J. T., Lau, J. F. T., Griffiths, S. M., & Fielding, R. (2010). Community psychological and behavioural responses through the first wave of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic in Hong Kong. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 202, 867–876. https://doi.org/10.1086/655811

Dolinski, D., Dolinska, B., Zmaczyńska-Witek, B., Banach, M., & Kulesza, W. (2020). Unrealistic Optimism in the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: May It Help to Kill, If So—Whom: Disease or the Person? Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9, 1464. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9051464

Duan, T., Jiang, H., Deng, X., Zhang, Q., & Wang, F. (2020). Government intervention, risk perception, and the adoption of protective action recommendations: Evidence from the COVID-19 prevention and control experience of China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103387

Floyd, D. L., Prentice-Dunn, S., & Rogers, R. W. (2000). A meta-analysis of research on protection motivation theory. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 407–429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02323.x

Gao, J., Zheng, P., Jia, Y., Chen, H., Mao, Y., Chen, S., Wang, Y., Fu, H., & & Dai, J. (2020). Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS ONE, 15(4), e0231924. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231924

Gaygisiz, U., Gaygisiz, E., Ozkan, T., & Lajunen, T. (2012). Individual differences in behavioral reactions to H1N1 during a later stage of the epidemic. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 5, 9–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2011.09.008

Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). Most people are not WEIRD. Nature, 466(7302), 29–29. https://doi.org/10.1038/466029a

Huang, Y., & Zhao, N. (2020). Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in China: a web-based cross-sectional survey. Psychiatry research, 288, 112954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112954

IBM Corp. (2012). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. IBM Corp.

Ingledew, D. K., & Brunning, S. (1999). Personality, Preventive Health Behaviour and Comparative Optimism about Health Problems. Journal of Health Psychology, 4, 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910539900400213

Jang, W. M., Kim, U. N., Jang, D. H., Jung, H., Cho, S., Eun, S. J., & Lee, J. Y. (2020). Influence of trust on two different risk perceptions as an affective and cognitive dimension during middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea: serial cross-sectional surveys. BMJ Open 10(3), e033026. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033026

Lee, K., & Ashton, M. C. (2018). Psychometric Properties of the HEXACO-100. Assessment, 25(5), 543–556. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191116659134

Li, H. Y., Cao, H., Leung, D. Y., & Mak, Y. W. (2020). The psychological impacts of a COVID-19 outbreak on college students in China: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 3933. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113933

Lippold, J. V., Laske, J. I., Hogeterp, S. A., Duke, É., Grünhage, T., & Reuter, M. (2020). The role of personality, political attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics in explaining individual differences in fear of coronavirus: A comparison over time and across countries. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.552305

Međedović, J., Čolović, P., Dinić, B. M., & Smederevac, S. (2019). The HEXACO personality inventory: Validation and psychometric properties in the Serbian language. Journal of Personality Assessment, 101(1), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2017.1370426

Monzani, D., Gorini, A., Mazzoni, D., & Pravettoni, G. (2021). Brief report - “Every little thing gonna be alright” (at least for me): Dispositional optimists display higher optimistic bias for infection during the Italian COVID-19 outbreak. Personality and Individual Differences, 168, 110388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110388

Pagnini, F., Bonanomi, A., Tagliabue, S., Balconi, M., Bertolotti, M., Confalonieri, E., Di Dio, C., Gilli, G., Graffigna, G., Regalia, C., Saita, E., & Villani, D. (2020). Knowledge, Concerns, and Behaviors of Individuals During the First Week of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Italy. JAMA Network Open, 3(7). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.15821

Sadiković, S., Branovački, B., Oljača, M., Mitrović, D., Pajić, D., & Smederevac, S. (2020). Daily monitoring of emotional responses to the coronavirus pandemic in Serbia: A citizen science approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02133

Saucier, G., & Goldberg, L. R. (1998). What is beyond the Big Five? Journal of Personality, 66, 495–524. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00022

Shepperd, J. A., Pogge, G., & Howell, J. L. (2017). Assessing the consequences of unrealistic optimism: Challenges and recommendations. Consciousness and Cognition, 50, 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.07.004

Sweeny, K., Carroll, P. J., & Shepperd, J. A. (2006). Thinking about the future: is optimism always best? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 302–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00457.x

Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics, 6th ed. Pearson.

Taylor, S. (2019). The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3

Volk, A. A., Brazil, K. J., Franklin-Luther, P., Dane, A. V., & Vaillancourt, T. (2021). The influence of demographics and personality on COVID-19 coping in young adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 168, 110398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110398

Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020). Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729

Weinstein, N. D. (1980). Unrealistic optimism about future life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 806–820. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.39.5.806

Weinstein, N. D. (1989). Optimistic biases about personal risks. Science, 246, 1232–1233. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2686031

Zajenkowski, M., Jonason, P. K., Leniarska, M., & Kozakiewicz, Z. (2020). Who complies with the restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19? Personality and perceptions of the COVID-19 situation. Personality and Individual Differences, 166, 110199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110199

Zettler, I., Thielmann, I., Hilbig, B. E., & Moshagen, M. (2020). The nomological net of the HEXACO model of personality: A large-scale meta-analytic investigation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(3), 723–760. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619895036

Downloads

Published

How to Cite

Oljača, M., Sadiković, S., Branovački, B., Pajić, D., Smederevac, S., & Mitrović, D. Unrealistic optimism and HEXACO traits as predictors of risk perception and compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures during the first wave of pandemic. Primenjena Psihologija, 13(4), 405–425. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.20.4.405-425