Reduced social distancing early in the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with antisocial behaviors in an online United States sample.

ABSTRACT: Antisocial behaviors cause harm, directly or indirectly, to others' welfare. The novel coronavirus pandemic has increased the urgency of understanding a specific form of antisociality: behaviors that increase risk of disease transmission. Because disease transmission-linked behaviors tend to be interpreted and responded to differently than other antisocial behaviors, it is unclear whether general indices of antisociality predict contamination-relevant behaviors. In a pre-registered study using an online U.S. sample, we found that individuals reporting high levels of antisociality engage in fewer social distancing measures: they report leaving their homes more frequently (p = .024) and standing closer to others while outside (p < .001). These relationships were observed after controlling fo

SUBMITTER: O'Connell K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7790541 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature