The risk perception of COVID-19 and pandemic-related behaviors: a moderated mediation model of political trust and self-efficacy

ABSTRACT

As the pandemic continues to spread across the world, the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its recurrence pose challenges for pandemic control in all countries worldwide. The present study examines the mediating role of political trust in the relationship between risk perception and pandemic-related behaviors (preventive behaviors and hoarding behaviors), and the moderating effect of self-efficacy on this relationship. The responses of 827 Chinese residents revealed that political trust plays a mediating role in the relationship between risk perception and pandemic-related behaviors. The relationship between risk perception and political trust was significant for individuals with low self-efficacy, while it became weaker for those with high self-efficacy.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• risk perception
• preventive behavior
• hoarding behavior
• political trust

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors’contributions

All the authors have made substantial, direct, and intellectual contributions to the work, including designing the research, writing, and revising the manuscript before it was submitted for publication. Conceptualization, K.K., R.D., X.X., and G.T.; data curation, K.K.; formal analysis, K.K.; funding acquisition, X.X.; investigation, K.K. and G.T.; methodology, K.K., R.D., X.X. and G.T.; project administration, R.D. and X.X.; software, K.K.; validation, R.D.; writing-original draft, K.K.; and writing-review and editing, K.K., R.D., X.X., and G.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethical approval

All participants in the current studies consented to participate.

Statement

This manuscript has not been published elsewhere and it has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (Grant No. 22NDJC112YB); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72201235); Zhejiang Provincial Education Sciences Planning Project (2022SCG235).