The Behaviour Changes in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic within Malaysia

Yau, Eugene Koh Boon; Pang, Nicholas Tze Ping; Shoesmith, Wendy Diana; James, Sandi; Hadi, Noor Melissa Nor; Loo, Jiann Lin

doi:10.21315/mjms2020.27.2.5

Cited by 61 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Health education aims to provide health information and knowledge to individuals and populations and equip them with skills to be able to voluntarily adopt healthy behaviours [ 47 ]. Also, the increase in positive health behaviours and ceasing or reduction in negative health-related lifestyles could have resulted from self-preservation, a common psychological response in COVID-19 [ 48 ], resulting from improved health knowledge and risk perception. Again, the framework posits that improved health knowledge which influences attitude and perception increases the chances of individuals adopting appropriate health behaviour [ 18 , 24 ] including physical exercising, healthier diet choices and ceasing of risky behaviours like alcohol consumption and smoking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health knowledge and care seeking behaviour in resource-limited settings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Ghana

et al. 2021

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Background The emergence of a pandemic presents challenges and opportunities for healthcare, health promotion interventions, and overall improvement in healthcare seeking behaviour. This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on health knowledge, lifestyle, and healthcare seeking behaviour among residents of a resource-limited setting in Ghana. Methods This qualitative study adopted an exploratory design to collect data from 20 adult residents in the Cape Coast Metropolis using face-to-face in-depth interviews. Data collected were analysed thematically and statements from participants presented verbatim to illustrate the themes realised. Results Health knowledge has improved due to COVID–19 in terms of access to health information and increased understanding of health issues. There were reductions in risky health-related lifestyles (alcohol intake, sharing of personal items, and consumption of junk foods) while improvements were observed in healthy lifestyles such as regular physical exercise and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. COVID–19 also positively impacted health seeking behaviour through increased health consciousness and regular check-ups. However, reduced healthcare utilization was prevalent. Conclusion The COVID–19 pandemic has presented a positive cue to action and helped improved health knowledge, lifestyle, and care seeking behaviour although existing health system constrains and low economic status reduced healthcare utilization. To improve health systems, health-related lifestyles and healthcare seeking behaviour as well as overall health outcomes even after the pandemic wades off, COVID–19 associated conscious and unconscious reforms should be systematically harnessed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health knowledge and care seeking behaviour in resource-limited settings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Ghana

et al. 2021

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“…than staying at home. Death is irreversible that may happen anytime due to a number of potential reasons we may never know but illnesses are universally thoughts death causative agents and avoiding illnesses may prevent death now or postpone its happening in future is in fact deeply rooted in our psychology that shape our behavior (Yau et al, 2020).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The general public have initially denied the severity of COVID-19 and not followed the protocols. The denial of danger is in fact a psychological strategy human beings use for easing the perceived emotional pain when facing an unavoidable danger (Yau et al, 2020).…”

Section: Individual Br and Negative Externalities To Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the order of staying at home and keeping social distancing is for an indefinite period of time, it is perfectly rational at individual level to hoard foods and toilet papers (Dezecache et al, 2020). People hoard not for the material resources only but they use hoarding as a buffer-for them it is a right behavioral choice to act physically-to lessen the COVID-19 related anxiety and fear (Yau et al, 2020). Such selfish behaviors of people can be altered by proper communication about the COVID-19 outbreak and making the situation more certain.…”

Section: Recommendations: Paternalistic Role Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral limitations of individuals for coping with COVID-19: A terror management perspective

Ahmed¹,

Ahmed²,

Barkat³

2020

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

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Authorities and policymakers have been advocating people to follow the traditional personal protective measures (e.g., social distancing) to avoid COVID-19 disease and to reduce its spread further. Based on terror management theory (TMT) and individuals' bounded rationality (BR), this study designs a conceptual framework to examine psychological limitations of people for obeying the experts' instructionsparticularly, social distancing-during the pandemic. This is because, contrary to "social distancing," humans subconsciously use centuriesold defense mechanisms-seeking close relationships, validation or modification of cultural worldviews, and enhancement of selfesteem-by "social gatherings" for the sake of buffering their own paralyzing terror of death in time of a large scale mortality salience (e.g., COVID-19). This study argues that in pandemics in which diseases spread due to human interactions, societies need to trade-off between reducing human or economic losses by imposing immediate stringent restrictions on people movements (e.g., lockdowns) versus mitigating pandemic related psychological or mental issues by allowing them to use anxiety reduction buffering mechanisms (e.g., social gatherings). By studying people's recent responses to the COVID-19 outbreak and given their BR, this study proposes that governments' interventions are needed to curtail the disease spreading and its associated costs further. In addition, several recommendations for interventions are suggested.

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“…The frequency, severity and correlates of these phenomena have already been documented extensively in several systematic reviews ( 4 – 6 ). Besides these well-recognized phenomena, reports of “panic buying” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported in the literature since March 2020, with the earliest published reports coming from Asian countries ( 7 – 9 ). Wang et al ( 9 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Biopsychosocial Approach to Understanding Panic Buying: Integrating Neurobiological, Attachment-Based, and Social-Anthropological Perspectives

Rajkumar

2021

Front. Psychiatry

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has focused the attention of researchers, civil authority and the general public on the phenomenon of “panic buying,” characterized by the excessive purchase of specific materials—particularly food and hygiene-related products—in anticipation of an expected shortage. This phenomenon has been well-documented in response to several natural and man-made disasters, but its global scope and severity in the context of COVID-19 are unprecedented. This response can negatively impact health, food security, and disease prevention efforts. Attempts to modify such behaviors are more likely to succeed if they are based on insights from both the biomedical and the social sciences. From a biological perspective, the phenomenological overlap between panic buying and psychological disorders such as hoarding disorder and compulsive buying raises the possibility of a shared neurobiological underpinning. Evolutionary models suggest that these behaviors represent an attempt to enhance individual and group survival in the face of a threatened scarcity of resources. These phenomena may be influenced by specific genetic variants which are also implicated in hoarding-related psychological disorders. From a psychological perspective, attachment theory provides a conceptual framework that serves as a bridge between prior life adversity, current deprivation, and an increased attachment to material objects. Such a framework is of relevance when considering panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been associated with significant disruptions in attachment bonds. From a social-anthropological perspective, hoarding and related behaviors have been associated with social exclusion and rejection, as well a lack of social support. These risk factors have affected large sections of the general population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental responses to it. This perspective also emphasizes the symbolic significance of the hoarded objects themselves. In this paper, an attempt is made to integrate these three perspectives and thereby formulate a biopsychosocial model of panic buying in response to this global health crisis. The existing scientific literature on panic buying is examined in the light of this model. Finally, suggestions are proposed as to how this model might inform social strategies aimed at preventing or reducing panic buying.

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The Behaviour Changes in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic within Malaysia

Cited by 61 publications

References 12 publications

Health knowledge and care seeking behaviour in resource-limited settings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Ghana

Health knowledge and care seeking behaviour in resource-limited settings amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study in Ghana

Behavioral limitations of individuals for coping with COVID-19: A terror management perspective

A Biopsychosocial Approach to Understanding Panic Buying: Integrating Neurobiological, Attachment-Based, and Social-Anthropological Perspectives

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