Fighting Coronavirus One Personality at a Time: Need for Structure, Trait Victimhood, and Adherence to COVID-19 Health Guidelines

The Relationship between the Need for Closure and Coronavirus Fear: The Mediating Effect of Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19

This study investigated the relationship between fear of the coronavirus, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and dimensions of the need for cognitive closure. As there is evidence of associations between these variables, we hypothesized that the relationship between the need for closure dimensions and coronavirus fear may be mediated by conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19. We analyzed the results from 380 individuals who completed online versions of three scales: the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, a short version of the Need for Closure Scale, and-designed for this study-the Conspiracy Theories about the Coronavirus Scale. The results showed that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories fully mediated the relationship between the fear of the coronavirus and avoidance of ambiguity, as well as closed-mindedness. The findings provided evidence that beliefs in conspiracy theories may play a significant role in reducing the level of coronavirus fear in people with high levels of these traits. In addition, a partial mediation between the fear of the coronavirus and the need for predictability was found. The limitations and implications of the research are discussed.

Perceptions of Victimhood and Entrepreneurial Tendencies

There is a growing scientific interest around entrepreneurship. One central line of research examines how different personality traits and characteristics such as creativity or resilience relate to entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. In the current research, we add to this literature by focusing on trait victimhood, a trait that entrepreneurship research has overlooked and may be relevant to understanding entrepreneurial tendencies. In two studies in Israel among a sample of entrepreneurship students (Study 1) and a sample representing the general public (Study 2), we show that trait victimhood is negatively related to entrepreneurial personality (Study 1) and behavior (Study 2). Moreover, Study 2 suggests that a strong sense of self-efficacy may buffer against trait victimhood’s adverse effects on behavioral entrepreneurship.

Policymakers as safe havens: The relationship between adult attachment style, COVID-19 fear, and regulation compliance

The COVID-19 crisis has caused severe psychological distress. Governments have been trying to fight the outbreak, inter alia, by enacting various restrictions to maintain social distancing. However, compliance with restrictions depends upon different interpersonal variables. The present study focused on the relationship between attachment patterns, fear of COVID-19, and adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. Participants completed the ECR measure to assess their adult attachment style, in addition to a COVID-19 fear and guidelines compliance questionnaire. We suggest that anxious attachment patterns may be related to heightened fear of COVID-19. Although fear and guideline adherence were positively correlated, secure attachment patterns were correlated to higher adherence than insecure attachment patterns.