Risk Perception of COVID-19 Infection in the UK: Based on the 2021 Large-Scale Household Survey Analysis

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 infection has had a crucial impact in the UK, at both a societal and individual level. To understand its impact, the virus risk perception of the population should be investigated. This has been reported variously depending on countries, their cultures, and socioeconomic factors. This perception in the UK has highlighted the importance of social solidarity – particularly when social interaction was restricted for public health reasons. The thesis explores how risk perception of the likelihood of COVID-19 infection in the UK adult population is affected by socioeconomic factors, behaviours related to social solidarity and health status. The data analysed here were collected during the transition situation when England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland began easing their lockdown policies, in accordance with slightly different timelines. The data used in this thesis is the UK large-scale household survey data gathered in late March 2021 by the University of Essex, and an ordinal logistic regression analysis based on the survey design has applied. From the data analysis, variables related to employment status, helping others living in different households, having COVID-19 vaccinations and general health status turned out to be statistically significant in relation to perceptions of the likelihood of COVID-19 infection. The findings are explained by drawing on the concepts of social solidarity, as suggested by Durkheim, and also that of comparative optimism.

Útbreiðsla COVID-19 sýkingar hefur haft töluverð áhrif bæði á einstaklinga og á samfélagið í heild á Bretlandi. Til að gera betur grein fyrir áhrifum útbreiðslu veirunnar ætti að kanna upplifanir fólks á hættunni sem stafar af henni, sem eru sagðar mismunandi eftir löndum, menningu og félagshagfræðilegum þáttum. Þessi upplifun í Bretlandi sýndi fram á mikilvægi félagslegrar samstöðu á meðan á heimsfaraldri stendur þegar félagsleg samskipti voru takmörkuð vegna lýðheilsu. Ritgerðin fjallar um þessa þætti ásamt því að kanna einnig félagslega samstöðu og heilsufarsástand á mismunandi tímapunktum sem samfélagslegum höftum var aflétt á Englandi, Skotlandi, Wales og Norður-Írlandi. Gögnin, sem notuð voru, eru úr víðtækri könnun sem varð lögð fyrir heimili í Bretlandi í mars 2021, og raðbreytu aðhvarfsgreiningu var beitt sem tekur tillit til hönnunar á könnuninni. Niðurstöður sýna að breytur sem tengjast atvinnustöðu, það að veita öðrum aðstoð, fá bólusetningu gegn COVID-19 og almennu heilsufarsástandi, voru marktækt tengdar líkum á COVID-19 sýkingu. Niðurstöðurnar eru skýrðar með hugmyndum Durkheims um samstöðu og bjartýnishyggju.