Overconfidence at the time of COVID-19:Does it lead to laxer attitudes?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Health education campaigns often aim to create awareness by increasing objective knowledge about pathogens, such as COVID-19. However, the present paper proposes that confidence in one's knowledge more than knowledge is a significant factor that leads to a laxer attitude toward COVID-19 and hence lower support for protective measures and reduced intention to comply with preemptive behaviors.

Methods

We tested two hypotheses in three studies conducted between 2020 and 2022. In Study 1, we assessed participants' level of knowledge and confidence, as well as attitudes toward COVID-19. In Study 2, we tested the relation between fear of COVID-19 and protective behaviors. In Study 3, we used an experimental approach to show the causal effect of overconfidence on fear of

SUBMITTER: Piehlmaier DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10226290 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature