Gender differences in COVID-19 attitudes and behavior: Panel evidence from eight countries

2020/10/15 by Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta +3 · 5 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Mathematics · Psychology · #COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts #COVID-19 and Mental Health #COVID-19 epidemiological studies

paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.2012520117

openalex publication_date 2020/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26

Abstract

= 21,649) to study gender differences in COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors. We show that women are more likely to perceive COVID-19 as a very serious health problem, to agree with restraining public policy measures, and to comply with them. Gender differences in attitudes and behavior are sizable in all countries. They are accounted for neither by sociodemographic and employment characteristics nor by psychological and behavioral factors. They are only partially mitigated for individuals who cohabit or have direct exposure to the virus. We show that our results are not due to differential social desirability bias. This evidence has important implications for public health policies and communication on COVID-19, which may need to be gender based, and it unveils a domain of gender differences: behavioral changes in response to a new risk.

Citations

• Social desirability bias in voter turnout reports: Tests using the item count technique
• The Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap: Women’s and Men’s Voting Behavior in Global Perspective
• Gender Differences in Preferences
• Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study
• The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence
• COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the outbreak
• The effect of human mobility and control measures on the COVID-19 epidemic in China

Cited by

• Latent target groups—A methodological contribution of social identities to policy design research
• A population-based cohort study of sex and risk of severe outcomes in covid-19
• Social Desirability Bias in Measures of Norm Violations and Compliance during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of an Experimental Survey in Europe
• COVID-19 and Gender Differences in Social Trust: Causal Evidence from the First Wave of the Pandemic
• What are they thinking? Exploring college students’ mental processing and decision making about COVID-19 (mis)information on social media.

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