Relationship between preventivebehaviour and benevolence during thecovid-19 pandemic in Sweden.

Abstract: Abstract The Covid –19 pandemic requires sustainable behavioural changes to mitigate the spread of the infection. Thus, people are requested to comply with the recommendations given by the authorities. However, people vary with regard to how well they follow the recommendations. It is therefore of importance to understand the driving forces behind behavioural change. This study aims to investigate how people’s willingness to comply with preventive behaviour during a pandemic is related to the prosocial factor of benevolence.  A cross-sectional study was performed online on an independent sample (N=1014). A correlational analysis was performed between the variable benevolence and degree of willingness for complying with recommendations as well as for the motives for obeying or disobeying the instructions from authorities.  The result showed a significant correlation for the whole study population between how well they followed the recommendations (M = 4.16, S = 0.92) and the levels of benevolence (M = 3.58, S = 0.74) r = 0.22, p = <0.001.  Further, there was a significant correlation between altruistic motives and compliance with recommendations, including the view on taking the vaccine. Our findings add to the concept that prosocial orientation during the covid-19 pandemic in Sweden increases compliance with preventive behaviour.