The moderating role of disgust proneness on the relationship between contamination fear and COVID-19 related safety behaviours

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic broadly impacted individuals’ lives, not only psychologically, but also by changing their behaviours. Considering that previous research associated COVID-related safety behaviours with contamination fear (CF) and disgust proneness (DP), the present study examined not only the association between them, but also the moderating role of DP on this association. Individual differences in DP may play an important role in the relation between CF and safety behaviours. It was hypothesized that (1) CF and COVID-related safety behaviours are significantly positively associated and (2) this association is moderated by DP. Hereto, a survey was performed in 179 participants from the general population (124 females and 55 males). CF was measured using the Padua Inventory Contamination Subscale, COVID-related safety behaviours was measured using the Coronavirus Safety Behaviours Scale, and DP was measured using the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised. Two control variables were added to examine whether they confounded the results, namely health anxiety (HA) and fear of COVID-19. Results showed that CF was significantly positively associated with COVID-related safety behaviours, whereas DP did not significantly moderate this association. Moreover, when controlling for HA and fear of COVID-19, CF explained a statistically significant amount of variance in COVID-related safety behaviours scores. Lastly, a significant positive relationship was found between CF and DP. When utilized in psychotherapy, CF and DP may improve existing therapeutic interventions and provide greater opportunities for acquiring a deeper understanding of behavioural changes during contagious diseases and beyond.