Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the lab initiated a project supported by a grant that we obtained via the National Science Foundation's RAPID mechanism. The project concerned beliefs about the pandemic, knowledge regarding COVID-19, and a variety of individual difference variables as predictors of social distancing behavior. Eventually, the longitudinal nature of the dataset also permitted us to how examine how these variables prospectively related to the likelihood of contracting the virus.
One of the unique aspects of the project was the approach we pursued to assessing social distancing behavior. In addition to traditional, self-report measures of the extent to which participants were following social distancing recommendations, we employed a more innovative, behaviorally oriented approach. We simulated social distancing behavior by presenting participants with graphical depictions that mirrored different real-world scenarios and asking them to position themselves as they personally would in relation to others in the scene. These virtual social distancing scenarios required a concrete, “in-the-moment” behavioral decision, which could vary in the degree to which participants did or did not distance themselves from others. For example, in one scenario participants chose whether to cross a park via a circuitous but isolated path versus a more direct but crowded route. Yet another presented an interactive image of two people approaching each other in a crosswalk for which participants were asked to move a slider that shifted the walkers from the center of the crosswalk to the distance that they personally would leave between themselves and the other individual. The 10 behavioral scenarios can be viewed (and downloaded) at our demonstration website, http://psychvault.org/social-distancing/.
The virtual behavior measure of social distancing proved predictive of the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 over the subsequent four months, even more so than the self-report measure of social distancing behavior. In fact, an increase of one SD on the virtual behavior measure of social distancing was associated with roughly a 20% reduction in the odds of contracting COVID-19. The findings offer a unique form of additional evidence as to why individuals should indeed practice social distancing. What the individual does matters. It surely matters at the “collective” level, reducing transmission within the community—the very aim of officials’ social distancing directives and pleas. However, engaging in social distancing also carries with it clear and relatively immediate benefits for those who comply, leading to a reduced likelihood of contracting the disease for that specific individual. (See our PNAS article for details.)
Some of the findings were featured in two press releases prepared by the Ohio State University News Bureau:
https://news.osu.edu/politicized-pandemic-shaped-compliance-with-social-distancing/
https://news.osu.edu/a-personal-benefit-of-social-distancing-lower-odds-of-getting-covid-19/
Bibliography
Publications reporting research stemming from our COVID-19 project are listed below. Pdfs are available for download on the “Download Reprints” page of this website.
Fazio, R. H., Ruisch, B. C., Moore, C. A., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., & Ladanyi, J. T. (2021). Social distancing decreases an individual’s likelihood of contracting COVID-19. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(8). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023131118
Fazio, R. H., Ruisch, B. C., Moore, C. A., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., & Ladanyi, J. T. (2021). Who is (not) complying with the U. S. social distancing directive and why? Testing a general framework of compliance with virtual measures of social distancing. PLoS ONE, 16(2): e0247520. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247520
Granados Samayoa, J. A., Ruisch, B. C., Moore, C. A., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2021). When does knowing better mean doing better? Trust in President Trump and in scientists moderates the relation between COVID-19 knowledge and social distancing. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31, 218-231.
Ruisch, B. C., Moore, C. A., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2021). Examining the left-right divide through the lens of a global crisis: Ideological differences and their implications for responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Political Psychology, 42, 795-816.
Moore, C. A., Ruisch, B. C., Granados Samayoa, J. A., Boggs, S. T., Ladanyi, J. T., & Fazio, R. H. (2021). Contracting COVID-19: A longitudinal investigation of the impact of beliefs and knowledge. Scientific Reports, 11, 20460. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99981-8
Boggs, S. T., Ruisch, B. C., & Fazio, R. H. (in press). Concern about salient pathogen threats increases sensitivity to disgust. Personality and Individual Differences.