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Friend-shield protection from the crowd: how close friendships make us seem invulnerable to Covid-19

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dc.affiliation.dptoUC3M. Departamento de Economía de la Empresaes
dc.contributor.authorDe Vries, Eline
dc.contributor.authorLee, Hyun Jung
dc.contributor.funderComunidad de Madrides
dc.contributor.funderAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España)es
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-23T15:16:58Z
dc.date.available2022-06-23T15:16:58Z
dc.date.issued2022-06-01
dc.description.abstractWhen deciding whether to eat inside a restaurant or how many health protection items to purchase, individuals in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) era tend to consider the infection risk of crowds of generalized others. With a field study and four experiments, the present study identifies associations between COVID-19 and friendship (e.g., thinking of a friend while reading COVID-19-related news, perceiving a friend as the source of infection, noting friends’ presence during potential COVID-19 exposure) that decrease both infection risk perceptions and protective behaviors. The sense of safety that stems from psychological closeness of friends reduces perceived virus infection risks associated with third-party crowds. The distinction between psychological closeness and safety toward friends versus acquaintances widens with clear in-group/out-group boundaries, such that this friend-shield effect is especially pronounced among people whose group boundaries are well established. Limiting interactions to close friends and family members is a common protective measure to reduce COVID-19 transmission risk, but the study findings demonstrate that this practice also unintentionally creates other issues, in that people tend to perceive reduced health risks and engage in potentially hazardous health behaviors. By identifying this risk and encouraging more holistic responses, this research offers implications for individuals, health officials, and policymakers.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work has been supported by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid) under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M in the line of “Fostering Young Doctors Research” (SOCANET-CM-UC3M) and in the context of the V PRICIT Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation. Proyectos Interdisciplinares Jóvenes doctores, 2020/00031/001, 2020/00031/002.Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, España, ECO2017-87369-P.en
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitatione Vries, E. L. E., & Lee, H. C. (2022). Friend-shield protection from the crowd: How friendship makes people feel invulnerable to COVID-19. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.es
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000417
dc.identifier.issn1076-898X
dc.identifier.publicationfirstpage1es
dc.identifier.publicationlastpage22es
dc.identifier.publicationtitleJOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-APPLIEDen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10016/35262
dc.identifier.uxxiAR/0000029270
dc.language.isoenges
dc.publisherAmerican Psychological Associationen
dc.relation.projectIDGobierno de España. ECO2017-87369-Pes
dc.relation.projectIDComunidad de Madrid. SOCANET-CM-UC3M 2020/00031/001es
dc.relation.projectIDComunidad de Madrid. SOCANET-CM-UC3M. 2020/00031/002es
dc.rights© The authors.en
dc.rights.accessRightsopen accessen
dc.subject.ecienciaEconomíaes
dc.subject.ecienciaEmpresaes
dc.subject.otherRisk perceptionen
dc.subject.otherPsychological closenessen
dc.subject.otherIn-group/out-group boundary clarityen
dc.subject.otherSocial distancingen
dc.subject.otherCovid-19en
dc.titleFriend-shield protection from the crowd: how close friendships make us seem invulnerable to Covid-19en
dc.typeresearch article*
dc.type.hasVersionAM*
dspace.entity.typePublication
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