Self-reported Compliance and Attitudes About Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Lab, Brauer G. 2020. “Self-reported Compliance and Attitudes About Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Outbreak.” OSF Preprints. April 13. doi:10.31219/osf.io/bv28d

Abstract: We studied self-reports of social distancing in a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults. We found that younger, less educated individuals who do not see social distancing as effective or the norm are currently less likely to fully comply with social distancing recommendations. Barriers such as not being able to tolerate social distancing for a long time prevent individuals from doing so, while seeing how distancing can help one's family and others is a potential benefit that could be made salient to encourage compliance. Communication campaigns aimed at increasing social distancing should use trusted sources such as public health officials and should work through national news networks and social media, as these are the media most used by the individuals whose behavior we need to change to address the current public health crisis.