Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?

Introduction: Following a period of strict lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced policies in which citizens were expected to avoid crowded places using common sense, as advised by the WHO. We argue that the ambiguity in the recommendation to “avoid crowded places” implici...

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Autores principales:	Martijn Stroom, Piet Eichholtz, Nils Kok
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	behavioral science public health communication collective human behavior human decision science cognitive psychology health psychology Psychology BF1-990
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/162e6546c4dc41368238f56e2e8153d0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:162e6546c4dc41368238f56e2e8153d02021-11-15T04:33:33ZAvoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?1664-107810.3389/fpsyg.2021.700640https://doaj.org/article/162e6546c4dc41368238f56e2e8153d02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700640/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078Introduction: Following a period of strict lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced policies in which citizens were expected to avoid crowded places using common sense, as advised by the WHO. We argue that the ambiguity in the recommendation to “avoid crowded places” implicitly forces individuals to make a complex strategic decision.Methods: Using a Dutch representative sample of 1,048 participants [42% male, mean age=43.78years (SD=12.53), we examine the effect of context on the decision to visit a hypothetical recreational hotspot under the policy recommendation to “avoid crowded places.” We randomize four levels of context on the crowdedness “on the streets” (no context, low, medium, and high context). Subsequently, participants are asked to estimate the percentage of others going out in the same situation. Finally, we assess the impact of a selection of personal characteristics on the likelihood of visiting a crowded place.Results: Respondents are proportionally more likely to go in a low context and high context, compared to no context (diff=0.121, p<0.000, and diff=0.034, p<0.05, respectively) and middle context (diff=0.125, p<0.000, and diff=0.037, p<0.05, respectively). Low context information also decreases the expectation of others going out (−2.63%, z=4.68, p<0.000). High context information increases the expected percentage of others going out (significant only for medium to high context; 2.94%, z=7.34, p<0.001). Furthermore, we show that education, age, and health and risk attitude are all predictive of the likelihood to visit a crowded place, notwithstanding the context.Discussion: Although there is a strong inclination to avoid crowded places during the COVID-19 pandemic (81%), we find two context-driven exceptions: when people expect to avoid crowded spots (in the “low” context, i.e., strategical decision-making) and when people expect others to go (social influence). The freedom provided by ambiguous public policy is implicitly asking more from the population than it initially seems. “Use your common sense” is often the accompanied advice, but our results show that more and better information concerning the context is essential to enable us to make an optimal decision for ourselves, and for society.Martijn StroomPiet EichholtzNils KokFrontiers Media S.A.articlebehavioral sciencepublic health communicationcollective human behaviorhuman decision sciencecognitive psychologyhealth psychologyPsychologyBF1-990ENFrontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	behavioral science public health communication collective human behavior human decision science cognitive psychology health psychology Psychology BF1-990
spellingShingle	behavioral science public health communication collective human behavior human decision science cognitive psychology health psychology Psychology BF1-990 Martijn Stroom Piet Eichholtz Nils Kok Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
description	Introduction: Following a period of strict lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries introduced policies in which citizens were expected to avoid crowded places using common sense, as advised by the WHO. We argue that the ambiguity in the recommendation to “avoid crowded places” implicitly forces individuals to make a complex strategic decision.Methods: Using a Dutch representative sample of 1,048 participants [42% male, mean age=43.78years (SD=12.53), we examine the effect of context on the decision to visit a hypothetical recreational hotspot under the policy recommendation to “avoid crowded places.” We randomize four levels of context on the crowdedness “on the streets” (no context, low, medium, and high context). Subsequently, participants are asked to estimate the percentage of others going out in the same situation. Finally, we assess the impact of a selection of personal characteristics on the likelihood of visiting a crowded place.Results: Respondents are proportionally more likely to go in a low context and high context, compared to no context (diff=0.121, p<0.000, and diff=0.034, p<0.05, respectively) and middle context (diff=0.125, p<0.000, and diff=0.037, p<0.05, respectively). Low context information also decreases the expectation of others going out (−2.63%, z=4.68, p<0.000). High context information increases the expected percentage of others going out (significant only for medium to high context; 2.94%, z=7.34, p<0.001). Furthermore, we show that education, age, and health and risk attitude are all predictive of the likelihood to visit a crowded place, notwithstanding the context.Discussion: Although there is a strong inclination to avoid crowded places during the COVID-19 pandemic (81%), we find two context-driven exceptions: when people expect to avoid crowded spots (in the “low” context, i.e., strategical decision-making) and when people expect others to go (social influence). The freedom provided by ambiguous public policy is implicitly asking more from the population than it initially seems. “Use your common sense” is often the accompanied advice, but our results show that more and better information concerning the context is essential to enable us to make an optimal decision for ourselves, and for society.
format	article
author	Martijn Stroom Piet Eichholtz Nils Kok
author_facet	Martijn Stroom Piet Eichholtz Nils Kok
author_sort	Martijn Stroom
title	Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
title_short	Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
title_full	Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
title_fullStr	Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
title_full_unstemmed	Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?
title_sort	avoiding crowded places during covid-19: common sense or a complex strategic decision?
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/162e6546c4dc41368238f56e2e8153d0
work_keys_str_mv	AT martijnstroom avoidingcrowdedplacesduringcovid19commonsenseoracomplexstrategicdecision AT pieteichholtz avoidingcrowdedplacesduringcovid19commonsenseoracomplexstrategicdecision AT nilskok avoidingcrowdedplacesduringcovid19commonsenseoracomplexstrategicdecision
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Avoiding Crowded Places During COVID-19: Common Sense or a Complex Strategic Decision?

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