The COVID-19 threat in close social networks: Impact on disease avoidance responses of Japanese university students

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to examine the relationship between the Behavioral Immune System (BIS) and disease avoidance behaviors and attitudes. In this study, we conducted an online survey to determine if, as predicted by the BIS, the threat of contracting COVID-19 elicits infection avoidance responses among young people who are critical to the spread of the disease. A total of 470 Japanese students from a metropolitan Tokyo university participated in the online survey from July 5–21, 2021; among these, 456 valid responses were analyzed, excluding responses from those who had been infected or were undergoing testing at that time (n=13). Contrary to our predictions, our data revealed that participants who knew people infected with COVID-19 in their close social network (n=152) were less enthusiastic about infection prevention responses than those who did not have infected acquaintances (n=304). The results suggest that young people may willingly trade off the risk of pathogen exposure against the benefits of maintaining social relationships.