The Effect of Fear of COVID-19 on Demonstrating Personal Health Behavior and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of fear of COVID-19 on showing personal health behavior and pro-social behavior during the period when new variations of the COVID-19 virus are seen in Turkey. A population-based cross-sectional research design was used in the study. The population of the study consisted of patients over the age of 18 who applied to a family medicine unit operating in Düzce city center and their relatives. Data were collected from 485 people using face-to-face survey technique. SPSS 23 and AMOS 26 package programs were used in the analysis of the data. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the participants had a relatively high level of fear of COVID-19, their personal health behavior and their pro-social behavior. In addition, the empirical result of the study showed that the level of fear of COVID-19 significantly affects the level of personal health behavior and pro-social behavior. Thus, the increased level of COVID-19 fear leads to high personal health behavior and pro-social behavior. It was found that female participants had higher COVID-19 fear levels and exhibited more pro-social behavior than male participants; young individuals show more personal health behaviors and pro-social behavior; It has been determined that public employees have higher COVID-19 fear levels, show more personal health behaviors, and engage in pro-social behavior. In addition, it has been found that the majority of people who are afraid of the COVID-19 virus think that the virus is man-made.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Fear
• Personal Health Behavior
• Prosocial Behavior
• fear
• personal health behavior
• prosocial behavior

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