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Social Behavior and COVID-19: Analysis of the Social Factors behind Compliance with Interventions across the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Morteza Maleki

    (School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA)

  • Mohsen Bahrami

    (Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA)

  • Monica Menendez

    (Division of Engineering, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates)

  • Jose Balsa-Barreiro

    (Division of Engineering, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
    MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 75 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA)

Abstract

Since its emergence, COVID-19 has caused a great impact in health and social terms. Governments and health authorities have attempted to minimize this impact by enforcing different mandates. Recent studies have addressed the relationship between various socioeconomic variables and compliance level to these interventions. However, little attention has been paid to what constitutes people’s response and whether people behave differently when faced with different interventions. Data collected from different sources show very significant regional differences across the United States. In this paper, we attempt to shed light on the fact that a response may be different depending on the health system capacity and each individuals’ social status. For that, we analyze the correlation between different societal (i.e., education, income levels, population density, etc.) and healthcare capacity-related variables (i.e., hospital occupancy rates, percentage of essential workers, etc.) in relation to people’s level of compliance with three main governmental mandates in the United States: mobility restrictions, mask adoption, and vaccine participation. Our aim was to isolate the most influential variables impacting behavior in response to these policies. We found that there was a significant relationship between individuals’ educational levels and political preferences with respect to compliance with each of these mandates.

Suggested Citation

  • Morteza Maleki & Mohsen Bahrami & Monica Menendez & Jose Balsa-Barreiro, 2022. "Social Behavior and COVID-19: Analysis of the Social Factors behind Compliance with Interventions across the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-26, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15716-:d:984726
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zapata-Moya, Angel R. & Freese, Jeremy & Bracke, Piet, 2023. "Mechanism substitution in preventive innovations: Dissecting the reproduction of health inequalities in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).

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