Motivation and Risk Perception

Throughout the monitoring, autonomous motivation has been the best predictor of adherence to sanitary measures. In other words, people that felt that measures aligned with their values were more self-driven to follow them than the ones motivated by external pressures.

In general, people are more inclined to follow the measures if they are meaningful and consistent over time. Inconsistent measures throughout the pandemic have resulted in a drop in motivation.

Two types of risk perception have also impacted people's behavior. Perceiving a high severity of symptoms was more likely to predict adherence to sanitary measures than simply perceiving a risk of infection. More details can be found here.