Moral disengagement, locus of control, and belief in a just world: Individual differences relate to adherence to COVID-19 guidelines

We examined relationships between moral disengagement, locus of control, and just world beliefs and adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. We predicted that these individual differences would be more influential for adherence than beliefs about the pandemic (e.g., its origins and one's perceived susceptibility to infection). COVID-19-related measures of these three individual differences were each significantly associated with adherence even after controlling for demographics and pandemic beliefs although beliefs about the severity of the virus and the benefits of containment measures also significantly related to adherence. Beliefs were associated with the individual difference measures and political orientation. Moral disengagement, the strongest individual difference predictor, was associated with lower support for each pandemic containment precaution (e.g., mask wearing). These results can be used to frame messages to increase adherence to public health measures.