Protective motivators and precautionary behaviors against COVID-19 in Turkey.

In this research, we investigated the protection motivators and precautionary behaviors against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the associations between them. To do this, we developed two original scales, collected data (2783 responses) using an online survey, after removing the responses (319), which were filled in incompletely or incorrectly in the questionnaire, we obtained 2464 participants covering the aged 18+ population in Turkey. Based on random sampling, our sample complies with these ratios and generally reflects the aged 18+ population of Turkey. We confirmed the psychometrical validity and reliability of our two scales using the collected data. Herewith, we found that perceived susceptibility of COVID-19 infection is very high, perceived severity of COVID-19 is medium, COVID-19 related information seeking is high, beliefs on precautions' efficacy is high and also the practice of precautionary behaviors is high. Our research depicts that all protection motivators significantly are related with the practice of precautionary behaviors (routine and leisure). However, with the only exception of perceived severity of COVID-19 is not related with precautionary behaviors (routine). Besides, we saw that females' average in all variables is significantly higher than males and some variables are sensitive to age, education level, marital status and the number of children. We believe that the findings provide essential inputs for authorities in establishing public health policies against the present pandemic and likely ones in the future.

Effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19: A cross-country analysis.

Prolonging non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) used in the control of pandemics can cause a devastating effect on the overall economic and social welfare levels. Therefore, policymakers are facing a difficult duty in terms of implementing economically and socially sustainable and acceptable measures. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of NPIs implemented to control the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, eight NPI measures were analysed, and their effects on the number of cases were investigated for France, Spain, China, and South Korea. In the study, the treatment effect of these mechanisms on the daily increase rate of the total number of cases during a certain period was analysed by using logarithmic linear regression with a dummy variables model. The findings indicate that the measures are effective against the spread of the pandemic at different levels. The findings also suggest that the most effective measure in decreasing the number of cases is workplace closure. An analysis comparing the effectiveness of countrywide measures and regional measures shows that school closing is the most effective measure to decrease the number of cases when implemented countrywide as opposed to regional implementation.

The impact of national culture on the increase of COVID-19: A cross-country analysis of European countries.

In recent years, countries have been fighting with increasing momentum against outbreaks. This struggle requires the effective implementation of several measures that are required in medical science. However, the cultural characteristics of each society prevent these measures from being applied in the same way globally. One area in which social scientists have not applied much effort is observing the impact of countries' cultural characteristics in the fight against outbreaks. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether cultural differences among countries have an impact on their fight against outbreaks. This study uses the COVID-19 pandemic's total cases and selected European countries' cultural dimension scores as data. Due to the differences in the measurement units of cultural and outbreak variables, a stepwise multiple logarithmic regression analysis is preferred to select the proper regression model. The results have shown that power distance has a significant and negative effect on the increase rate of the total COVID-19 cases per million (IRTCCPM). In addition, the results have demonstrated that both individualism and indulgence have significant and positive effects on IRTCCPM, at the 95 % confidence level. However, the hypotheses concerning the impacts of masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation on the IRTCCPM are rejected at the α = 0.05 level. In light of the findings of this study, it can be asserted that countries act in harmony with their cultural characteristics in the formal or informal practices of their fight against outbreaks. The contributions of the study can be discussed in academic and practical fields.

National Preferred Interpersonal Distance Curbs the Spread of COVID-19: A Cross-Country Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: National interpersonal distance preference is considered a cultural characteristic. Interpersonal distance is critical for the spread dynamics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19's spread trend shows various characteristics in different countries. We believe that 1 of the factors influencing this variation could be national interpersonal distance preference. METHODS: We used regression analysis based on data of national interpersonal distance preferences (social, personal, and intimate) presented by Sorokowska et al. and COVID-19 rate of spread data for 40 different countries that were calculated using Our World in Data's data. RESULTS: National interpersonal distance preferences, with its 3 dimensions, significantly influence the rate of spread of COVID-19 in countries. CONCLUSION: Understanding the relation between national interpersonal distance preference and spread of COVID-19 might be very useful information in decision-making processes of individuals, societies, and governments to develop culturally well-suited counter-pandemic policies, strategies, and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic or any epidemic or pandemic threats in the future, instead of standard fit-to-all strategies.