Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Numerous studies on unrealistic optimism (UO) have shown that people claim they are less exposed to COVID-19 infection than others. Yet, it has not been assessed if this bias evolves; does it escalate or diminish when the information about the threat changes? The present paper fills this gap. For 12...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754208/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1797979742510514176 |
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| author | Kamil Izydorczak Karolina Antoniuk Wojciech Kulesza Paweł Muniak Dariusz Dolinski |
| author_facet | Kamil Izydorczak Karolina Antoniuk Wojciech Kulesza Paweł Muniak Dariusz Dolinski |
| author_sort | Kamil Izydorczak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Numerous studies on unrealistic optimism (UO) have shown that people claim they are less exposed to COVID-19 infection than others. Yet, it has not been assessed if this bias evolves; does it escalate or diminish when the information about the threat changes? The present paper fills this gap. For 12 months 120 participants estimated their own and their peers’ risk of COVID-19 infection. Results show that UO regarding COVID-19 infection is an enduring phenomenon–It was the dominant tendency throughout almost the entire study and was never substituted by Unrealistic Pessimism. While the presence of UO-bias was constant, its magnitude changed. We tested possible predictors of these changes: the daily new cases/deaths, the changes in governmental restrictions and the mobility of participants’ community. Out of these predictors, only changes in governmental restrictions proved to be significant- when the restrictions tightened, UO increased. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:43:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-779a1f44c4f24c68a6c748bd76cf7b07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:43:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-779a1f44c4f24c68a6c748bd76cf7b072022-12-22T04:42:19ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011712Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemicKamil IzydorczakKarolina AntoniukWojciech KuleszaPaweł MuniakDariusz DolinskiNumerous studies on unrealistic optimism (UO) have shown that people claim they are less exposed to COVID-19 infection than others. Yet, it has not been assessed if this bias evolves; does it escalate or diminish when the information about the threat changes? The present paper fills this gap. For 12 months 120 participants estimated their own and their peers’ risk of COVID-19 infection. Results show that UO regarding COVID-19 infection is an enduring phenomenon–It was the dominant tendency throughout almost the entire study and was never substituted by Unrealistic Pessimism. While the presence of UO-bias was constant, its magnitude changed. We tested possible predictors of these changes: the daily new cases/deaths, the changes in governmental restrictions and the mobility of participants’ community. Out of these predictors, only changes in governmental restrictions proved to be significant- when the restrictions tightened, UO increased.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754208/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Kamil Izydorczak Karolina Antoniuk Wojciech Kulesza Paweł Muniak Dariusz Dolinski Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic PLoS ONE |
| title | Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias: A longitudinal study in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | temporal aspects of unrealistic optimism and robustness of this bias a longitudinal study in the context of the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9754208/?tool=EBI |
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