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Perceptions of personal and public risk: Dissociable effects on behavior and well-being.

ABSTRACT: When faced with a global threat peoples' perception of risk guides their response. When danger is to the self as well as to others two risk estimates are generated-to the self and to others. Here, we set out to examine how people's perceptions of health risk to the self and others are related to their psychological well-being and behavioral response. To that end, we surveyed a large representative sample of Americans facing the COVID-19 pandemic at two times (N₁ = 1145, N₂ = 683). We found that people perceived their own risk to be relatively low, while estimating the risk to others as relatively high. These risk estimates were differentially associated with psychological well-being and behavior. In particular, perceived personal but not public risk was associated with people's happiness, while both were predictive of anxiety. In contrast, the tendency to engage in protective behaviors were predicted by peoples' estimated risk to the population, but not to themselves. This raises the possibility that people were predominantly engaging in protective behaviors for the benefit of others. The findings can inform public policy aimed at protecting people's psychological well-being and physical health during global threats.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11166-022-09373-0.

SUBMITTER: Globig LK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8976215 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Perceptions of personal and public risk: Dissociable effects on behavior and well-being.

Globig Laura K LK Blain Bastien B Sharot Tali T

Journal of risk and uncertainty 20220402 2

When faced with a global threat peoples' perception of risk guides their response. When danger is to the self as well as to others two risk estimates are generated-to the self and to others. Here, we set out to examine how people's perceptions of health risk to the self and others are related to their psychological well-being and behavioral response. To that end, we surveyed a large representative sample of Americans facing the COVID-19 pandemic at two times (N<sub>1</sub> = 1145, N<sub>2</sub> ...[more]

PMID: 35400812

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Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about hospital pharmacists' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, as studies to date have focused on community pharmacy practices.ObjectivesTo determine hospital pharmacists' perceptions of their workplace preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic and to measure their mental well-being with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS).MethodsPharmacists working in Canadian hospital inpatient settings during the COVID-19 pandemic were invited to participate in a 2-part online survey. Part A was a 46-item survey containing statements related to directions and support from leadership, personal protective equipment practices, work environment, and emotions. Part B assessed respondents' mental well-being using the validated 14-item WEMWBS. Responses to both parts of the survey were based on Likert scales. The survey was open from July to September 2020. Descriptive analyses were applied.ResultsA total of 432 hospital pharmacists consented to participate in the study. Most respondents were women (337/432, 78%), and most were 25 to 44 years old (293/432, 68%). Most respondents were confident that their workplace and pharmacy department were effectively managing patient demand (314/389, 81%) and the pandemic more generally (263/394, 67%). They also felt that their workplace teams were working well together (314/386, 81%). Interestingly, 22% (86/391) of the respondents did not agree that they had received training for COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices. The mean WEMWBS score was 48.9 (standard deviation 8.6), which indicated average mental well-being.ConclusionsAfter the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents perceived their hospitals and departments as being able to manage the pandemic and reported average mental well-being. Ensuring that all hospital pharmacists receive training for effective COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices is crucial. How their perceptions and well-being have changed since the time of the survey is unknown.

Dataset Information

Perceptions of personal and public risk: Dissociable effects on behavior and well-being.

Supplementary information

Publications

Perceptions of personal and public risk: Dissociable effects on behavior and well-being.

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