Educational attainment & being Democrat is positively related to reduction in distance traveled & non-essential visitations, but the opposite effect is observed for human encounters (selectively engaging)

Im, Hohjin, Christopher Ahn, Peiyi Wang, and Chuansheng Chen. 2020. “An Early Examination: Psychological, Health, and Economic Correlates and Determinants of Social Distancing Amidst COVID-19.” PsyArXiv. April 13. doi:10.31234/osf.io/9ravu

Abstract: With the exponential spread of COVID-19 across the United States, federal and local government agencies have issued numerous orders and recommendations for residents to practice social distancing. This study utilizes data collected from Unacast Inc. spanning observations of 3,142 counties across 50 states from March 8, 2020 to April 5, 2020 (N = 83,944) in a 3-level multilevel model to examine the correlates of social distancing behavior, as measured by the proportional reduction in 1) distance traveled and 2) nonessential visitations, as well as, the absolute value reduction in 3) human encounters made, compared to pre-COVID-19 times. Results indicate that the proportion of Democrats and educational attainment is positively related to reduction in distance traveled and non-essential visitations, but the opposite effect is observed for human encounters, suggesting that Democrats and educated individuals may be selectively engaging in certain social distancing behaviors but not others. Average personal income and proportion of older residents were generally positively related to engagement in social distancing. State-level variables for health and economics show little relation to engagement in social distancing, suggesting that communication of health and preventative behavior information may prove more fruitful at the local level than state level. Implications and interpretations of findings are discussed.