Psychological reactance as an explanation of Italians'resistance to observe the safety measures during COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic (March 11th-2020), precise recommendations about ways to prevent and to contain the infection have been indicated. More specifically, a review commissioned by WHO showed that quarantine combined with other public health measures, such as hand washing, face covering, and social distancing, help prevent incidence and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nussbaumer-Streit et al., 2020). However, many people in Italy refused to obey the above recommendations. This irrational behavior has been observed especially among young, who even after the closure of schools and colleges, continued to host house parties, meet with friends at parks without social distancing, travel, and so on. Not only young people, but also many adults manifested a low willingness to cooperate in order to prevent and contain the spread of the coronavirus, refusing for example to wear a mask at the grocery store or to practice social-distancing. The illogical behavior of Italians during the COVID-19 pandemic can be explained through a well-known psychological mechanism, named psychological reactance.