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How Does COVID-19 Risk Perception Affect Sense of Control? The Roles of Death Anxiety and Confucian Coping

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  • Lianqiong Huang

    (School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Yubo Hou

    (School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Zhaoyang Sun

    (School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Qi Wang

    (College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA)

Abstract

This research examined the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control, testing the hypotheses that COVID-19 risk perception would reduce sense of control and that this effect would be mediated by death anxiety and moderated by Confucian coping. A series of six studies were conducted with Chinese participants ( N = 2202) and employed different research designs in lab and real-life settings. Across the studies, we found that the perceived risk of COVID-19 impaired sense of control. Studies 3a to 5 further revealed that death anxiety mediated the adverse effect of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control, and Studies 4 to 5 revealed that Confucian coping strategies alleviated the adverse effect of COVID-19 risk perception on sense of control. These findings shed new light on the psychological impact of risk perception in times of crisis and identify mitigating factors and boundary conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lianqiong Huang & Yubo Hou & Zhaoyang Sun & Qi Wang, 2023. "How Does COVID-19 Risk Perception Affect Sense of Control? The Roles of Death Anxiety and Confucian Coping," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2299-:d:1048741
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frank J. Infurna & Denis Gerstorf & Nilam Ram & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 2011. "Long-Term Antecedents and Outcomes of Perceived Control," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 355, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. William J. Burns & Paul Slovic, 2012. "Risk Perception and Behaviors: Anticipating and Responding to Crises," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(4), pages 579-582, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ruyi Shi & Qiqi Liu & Guangzhu Wu, 2023. "Risk Perception and Sense of Public Health Safety: The Mediating Role of Emotional Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, November.

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