Make No Apologies: Fear of Negative Evaluation, Depressive Symptoms, and the Mediating Role of Accounting for COVID-Safe Behavior Amongst People at High-Risk for Severe Illness

ABSTRACT

With the goal of understanding unique and important threats to the mental health of people who are especially vulnerable to severe illness as a result of COVID-19, this study investigated associations between such individuals’ fear of negative evaluation, tendency to “account for” practicing COVID-safe behaviors, and depressive symptoms. Grounded in perspectives on self-presentation, normative influence, and cognitive dissonance, we hypothesized that fear of negative evaluation would relate positively to accounting for COVID-safe behaviors, which, in turn, would associate positively with increased depressive symptoms. The results showed that increased fear of negative evaluation predicted an increased use of apologies and excuses, which in turn were positively related to depressive symptoms. Justifications for COVID-safe behaviors were not significantly associated with either fear of evaluation or depressive symptoms. The practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Acknowledgments

We thank Debora Seiter for her insights.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

This research was approved by the IRB of Utah State University, Protocol 12871.

Notes

1. Although wearing masks protects individuals, mask mandates may have been ineffective at the population level, in part, because people disregarded mandates or did not wear masks properly (see Leonhardt, 2022).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from Utah State University’s Faculty-Student Summer Mentorship Grant.