Generalized self-efficacy and compliance with health behaviours related to COVID-19 in the US.

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the role of generalized self-efficacy (GSE) in compliance with COVID-19 health behaviours such as wearing masks and social distancing. DESIGN: Two studies conducted online in the US: 312 adults in Study 1 and 253 adults in Study 2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In Study 1, participants reported compliance with four health behaviours related to COVID-19: social distancing, hand washing, avoiding non-essential travel, and wearing masks. In Study 2, participants reported expected compliance with wearing masks when it was framed as a national requirement, a state requirement, or a recommendation. RESULTS: In Study 1, GSE positively affected reported compliance with COVID-19 health behaviours. This result was mediated by the perception that these behaviours would offer enhanced control. Psychological reactance negatively affected reported compliance, while trust in science-based institutions and perceived threat from COVID-19 exerted positive effects. In Study 2, requiring (vs. recommending) masks led to higher willingness to comply with COVID-19 health behaviours. This was moderated by GSE, which significantly impacted compliance only when masks were required rather than recommended. CONCLUSION: Higher GSE predicted increased compliance with health behaviours related to COVID-19, such as wearing masks. This effect was strongest when these behaviours were framed as required rather than recommended.

Disgust sensitivity and kosher food preferences among the non-Jewish population in the US.

About $200 billion of kosher-certified foods are purchased each year in the US, and companies can pay up to $100,000 to private agencies to certify that their products meet kosher standards. Although kosher certification is ostensibly for the purpose of Jewish religious observance, the vast majority of people who buy kosher food are not Jewish. In this study, we examine the psychological drivers of these purchases among people who are not Jewish. Our study found that people with high levels of contamination disgust sensitivity were more likely to prefer kosher food, which is often marketed in a manner that implies that it has fewer contaminants. The effect of contamination disgust sensitivity on preference for kosher food was partially mediated by perceptions that kosher food rated highly on dimensions related to oral disgust (food rejection) rather than on dimensions related to moral disgust. Moderated mediation was significant for the factor of subjective knowledge, such that the mediation effect only occurred among participants who reported high levels of knowledge about kosher food. Strength of religious affiliation was a marginally significant covariate, as people who reported high levels of affiliation with organized religion had a greater preference for kosher food.

Cooking and disgust sensitivity influence preference for attending insect-based food events.

Insects are energy-efficient and sustainable sources of animal protein in a world with insufficient food resources to feed an ever-increasing population. However, much of the western world refuses to eat insects because they perceive them as disgusting. This research finds that both animal reminder disgust and core disgust reduced people's willingness to attend a program called "Bug Appétit" in which insects were served as food. Additionally, people who were low in sensitivity to animal reminder disgust were more willing to attend this program after having been primed to think about cooking. Cooking is a process by which raw ingredients are transformed into finished products, reducing the "animalness" of meat products that renders them disgusting. Sensitivity to core disgust did not interact with cooking to influence willingness to attend the program. While prior research has emphasized that direct education campaigns about the benefits of entomophagy (the consumption of insects) can increase willingness to attend events at which insect-based food is served, this is the first demonstration that indirect priming can have a similar effect among a subset of the population.

Reliance on luck: identifying which achievement goals elicit superstitious behavior.

People often resort to superstitious behavior to facilitate goal achievement. We examined whether the specific type of achievement goal pursued influences the propensity to engage in superstitious behavior. Across six studies, we found that performance goals were more likely than learning goals to elicit superstitious behavior. Participants were more likely to engage in superstitious behavior at high than at low levels of chronic performance orientation, but superstitious behavior was not influenced by chronic learning orientation (Studies 1 and 2). Similarly, participants exhibited stronger preferences for lucky items when primed to pursue performance goals rather than learning goals (Studies 3 and 4). As uncertainty of goal achievement increased, superstitious behavior increased when participants pursued performance goals but not learning goals (Study 5). Finally, assignment to use a lucky (vs. unlucky) item resulted in greater confidence of achieving performance goals but not learning goals (Study 6).