The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Kefan Xie, Benbu Liang, Maxim A. Dulebenets and Yanlan Mei
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Kefan Xie: School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Benbu Liang: School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Maxim A. Dulebenets: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Florida A&M University-Florida State University (FAMU-FSU) College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310-6046, USA
Yanlan Mei: School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Social distancing is one of the most recommended policies worldwide to reduce diffusion risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a risk management perspective, this study explores the mechanism of the risk perception effect on social distancing in order to improve individual physical distancing behavior. The data for this study were collected from 317 Chinese residents in May 2020 using an internet-based survey. A structural equation model (SEM) and hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses were conducted to examine all the considered research hypotheses. The results show that risk perception significantly affects perceived understanding and social distancing behaviors in a positive way. Perceived understanding has a significant positive correlation with social distancing behaviors and plays a mediating role in the relationship between risk perception and social distancing behaviors. Furthermore, safety climate positively predicts social distancing behaviors but lessens the positive correlation between risk perception and social distancing. Hence, these findings suggest effective management guidelines for successful implementation of the social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic by emphasizing the critical role of risk perception, perceived understanding, and safety climate.

Keywords: social distancing; risk perception; safety climate; COVID-19 pandemic; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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