OP113 Exploring the link between personality traits and attitudes to falsify COVID-19 home test results through vignettes

Background

As regular testing using rapid lateral flow device (LFD) tests became common practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was concern that some individuals were falsifying at-home test results. Falsification behaviours run counter to moral and ethical obligations of preventing harm, collective responsibility, and adherence to behavioural regulations. Personality traits such as empathy and honesty-humility (from HEXACO model of personality) have been shown to predict prosocial behaviours, including compliance with behavioural regulations during a pandemic. This vignette (factorial survey) study is the first to examine links between attitudes and intentions towards various LFD test falsification behaviours and (a) empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19 and (b) honesty-humility.

Methods

We collected data from 1,295 adults living in England who had used LFD tests. Delivered online by YouGov, the survey consisted of four vignettes, each containing an image and brief description of a falsification behaviour scenario: reporting a negative result without doing a test; reporting a positive result as negative; reporting a positive result after generating a fake positive test; and sharing test information with someone else. Participants rated their acceptability of the behaviours (attitude) and likelihood of engaging in those behaviours (intention) using five-point Likert scales. Empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19 and Honesty-humility were measured using items from scales validated in previous research.

Results

We found statistically significant and positive correlation (r = >.60, p< .001) between attitude (behaviour is unacceptable) and intention (unlikely to engage in the behaviour) for all four behaviours described in the vignettes. Further, both empathy and honesty-humility emerged as statistically significant predictors (p< .001) of all four behaviours: the higher the levels of self-reported empathy and honesty-humility, the more unacceptable the behaviours were for participants, and the more unlikely they were to indulge in them.

Discussion

This study was the second stage of a two-stage survey research that examined LFD test falsification behaviours in England. The study demonstrates a relationship between empathy and honesty-humility and attitudes to engage in falsifying test results. The study findings corroborate current evidence on the importance of individual differences in personality traits concerning attitudes to comply with behavioural regulations in uncertain and changing situations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

The study highlights that appealing to empathy and honesty-humility as personality traits can be effective tools for practitioners and policymakers when communicating about the importance of accurate self-testing results and creating messages to encourage adherence to COVID-19 behavioural regulations.