AUTHOR=Butkovic Ana , Galesic Mirta 

TITLE=Relationship Between COVID-19 Threat Beliefs and Individual Differences in Demographics, Personality, and Related Beliefs

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831199

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831199

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Individual differences in demographics, personality, and other related beliefs are associated with COVID 19 threat beliefs. However, the relative contributions of these different types of individual differences to COVID 19 threat beliefs are not known. In the present study, a total of 1700 participants in Croatia (68% female; age 18-86) completed a survey that included questions about COVID 19 risks, questions about related beliefs including vaccination beliefs, trust in the health system, trust in scientists, and trust in the political system, the HEXACO 60 personality inventory, as well as demographic questions about gender, age, chronic diseases, and region. We used hierarchical regression analyses to examine the proportion of variance explained by demographics, personality, and other related beliefs. All three types of individual differences explained a part of the variance of COVID 19 threat beliefs, with related beliefs explaining the largest part. Personality facets explained a slightly larger amount of variance than personality factors. These results have implications for communication about COVID 19.