A Pandemic Risk Perception Scale.

We propose a Pandemic Risk Perception Scale. Our scale comprises two constructs, Dread Risk and Personal Exposure, divided into five dimensions: Infection Risk, Emotional Health Risk, Health System Risk,Financial Risk, and Alimentary Risk. Using multidimensional item response theory, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling on two samples of respondents, our results show that Alimentary Risk, Health System Risk, and Emotional Health Risk are the main dimensions of risk perception for the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Infection Risk has a minor impact on the pandemic's risk perception, suggesting the presence of different dynamics between personal and general risk perceptions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loss of financial well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic: Does job stability make a difference?

This article aims to assess the loss of financial well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic. The developed theoretical model identifies the impacts of the perception of financial risk and financial anxiety on financial well-being. It also seeks, through a comparative analysis, to assess whether public servants, due to their status of job stability in Brazil, are less likely to have the effects of the pandemic than private employees. A survey was carried out on 1222 Brazilians with structural equation modeling and multi-group invariance tests. The results indicate that lower financial well-being is influenced by the level of financial anxiety and financial risk. Public servants perceive fewer losses in financial well-being, anxiety and risks than other professions. In the pandemic context, where the risks of unemployment and loss of income are increased, job stability works like an insurance, allowing public servants greater financial security and then minor losses of financial well-being. Evidence indicates that in countries where a large percentage of workers have temporary or informal jobs, the challenge of reducing the financial impacts of the pandemic will be great. Interventions to alleviating anxiety and public policies of income transfer and reduction of unemployment are instruments to reduce the loss of financial well-being.