Protection motivation theory and social distancing behaviour in response to a simulated infectious disease epidemic

• Published in: Psychology, health & medicine Vol. 20; no. 7; pp. 832 - 837
• Main Authors: Williams, Lynn, Rasmussen, Susan, Kleczkowski, Adam, Maharaj, Savi, Cairns, Nicole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 03.10.2015; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Communicable Diseases - epidemiology; Communicable Diseases - psychology; Computer & video games; Demography; Distancing behaviour; Epidemics; Female; Hand Disinfection; Health risks; Humans; Infection Control - methods; infectious disease; Infectious diseases; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Masks; Middle Aged; Motivation; protection motivation; Protection motivation theory; Self Efficacy; Self Report; Simulation; Social distancing; Social Isolation; Social motivation; Washing; protection motivation; infectious disease; social distancing
• ISSN: 1354-8506; 1465-3966
• DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2015.1028946

Epidemics of respiratory infectious disease remain one of the most serious health risks facing the population. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. hand-washing or wearing face masks) can have a significant impact on the course of an infectious disease epidemic. The current study investigated whether protection motivation theory (PMT) is a useful framework for understanding social distancing behaviour (i.e. the tendency to reduce social contacts) in response to a simulated infectious disease epidemic. There were 230 participants (109 males, 121 females, mean age 32.4 years) from the general population who completed self-report measures assessing the components of PMT. In addition, participants completed a computer game which simulated an infectious disease epidemic in order to provide a measure of social distancing behaviour. The regression analyses revealed that none of the PMT variables were significant predictors of social distancing behaviour during the simulation task. However, fear (β = .218, p < .001), response efficacy (β = .175, p < .01) and self-efficacy (β = .251, p < .001) were all significant predictors of intention to engage in social distancing behaviour. Overall, the PMT variables (and demographic factors) explain 21.2% of the variance in intention. The findings demonstrated that PMT was a useful framework for understanding intention to engage in social distancing behaviour, but not actual behaviour during the simulated epidemic. These findings may reflect an intention-behaviour gap in relation to social distancing behaviour.