IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jriskr/v24y2021i3-4p335-351.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identity change, uncertainty and mistrust in relation to fear and risk of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Glynis M. Breakwell
  • Rusi Jaspal

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic produced threats not only to physical and psychological health but also to the very fabric of family, work and social life. Individuals differ markedly in their ability to cope with such threats. Drawing on Identity Process Theory, our study examines identity processes that shape emotional and attitudinal responses to COVID-19. Survey data were collected from 251 adults in the UK during July 2020. Identity resilience, trust in science and scientists, fear of COVID-19 and perceived own risk of infection were measured. Respondents then watched a video clip designed to focus their thinking further upon the disease. Immediately after, levels of feeling afraid, uncertainty about self-protection, mistrust of anyone offering COVID-19 advice, and perceptions of identity change were indexed. A structural equation model of the relationship between these variables was tested and proved a good fit for the data. Identity resilience is negatively related to fear of COVID-19, which in turn is positively related to perceived own risk of COVID-19. Higher identity resilience is associated with greater uncertainty and feeling more afraid. Greater identity change is associated with higher mistrust, uncertainty and feeling more afraid. Trust in science and scientists correlates positively with perceived own risk of COVID-19 and negatively with mistrust of those offering advice on preventive behaviour. This study shows the usefulness of the identity resilience concept in modelling responses to health hazards. It also illustrates that focusing, even for a short time, on the characteristics of such a hazard can elicit perceived identity changes. Arousing fear is unlikely to initiate self-protection in those who are already fearful or who have less identity resilience. Fostering greater general trust in science and scientists, though difficult, will be valuable, particularly in encouraging public acceptance of mass vaccination against the virus when misinformation and conspiracy theories about it abound.

Suggested Citation

  • Glynis M. Breakwell & Rusi Jaspal, 2021. "Identity change, uncertainty and mistrust in relation to fear and risk of COVID-19," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3-4), pages 335-351, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:24:y:2021:i:3-4:p:335-351
    DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2020.1864011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13669877.2020.1864011
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13669877.2020.1864011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carol Nash, 2021. "Challenges to Learners in Interpreting Self as Other, Post COVID-19," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-24, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:24:y:2021:i:3-4:p:335-351. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJRR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.