Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/257457 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Citation: 
[Journal:] Games [ISSN:] 2073-4336 [Volume:] 11 [Issue:] 3 [Article No.:] 39 [Publisher:] MDPI [Place:] Basel [Year:] 2020 [Pages:] 1-15
Publisher: 
MDPI, Basel
Abstract: 
Given the importance of perceived susceptibility to a disease in adopting preventive behaviors, and the negative impact of optimism bias on prevention, this paper aimed to explore to what extent comparative optimism bias (understood as the tendency to assess a lower probability for oneself to experience negative health events compared to others) is present in the specific context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in two countries with different profiles in terms of the spread of the disease: Italy and Romania. After identifying optimism bias in both countries, we tested whether it depends on respondents' characteristics like gender, age, education, health status and whether or not they have the opportunity to work from home. We surveyed 1126 Romanians and 742 Italians, and found that optimism bias depends on self-reported health status, and that optimism bias increases with age. Inconclusive evidences were found regarding gender and education level, as well as the option to work from home.
Subjects: 
coronavirus health crisis
Covid-19
optimism bias
pandemic
perceived risk
risk communication
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
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