The effects of moral norms and anticipated guilt on COVID19 prevention behaviors

Studies have shown that older adolescents have a low perceived personal risk of COVID-19, and yet their ability and willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors is imperative for community health. Thus, health communication scholars need to consider alternative psycho-social predictors of prevention behaviors that will assist in protecting others in a pandemic. Based on Schwartz’s Norms Activation Model (NAM; Schwartz, 1977), we examined the relationship between moral norms and COVID-19 prevention behaviors (mask wearing and physical distancing). We predicted that anticipated guilt would mediate the relationship between moral norms and intention to engage in prevention behaviors, and that collective orientation would strengthen the association between moral norms and anticipated guilt. We tested predictions with data from a cross-sectional survey with a probability-based sample of college students at a large land grant university. These data indicated that moral norms were associated with behavioral intention, and this relationship was mediated by anticipated guilt. Collective orientation was found to moderate the relationship between moral norms and anticipated guilt in the context of physical distancing but not mask wearing. These findings suggest that making moral norms salient when designing an intervention is an effective strategy for older adolescents. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04477-5.