Third party funded individual grant
Start date : 01.01.2022
End date : 31.12.2022
The subject of the project is a questionnaire study with two survey waves among unemployed and reemployed persons. The focus will be on (1) changes in emotional reactions to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic such as COVID-19-related worries and fears, (2) attitudes such as the perceived risk of infection, and (3) prevention-related behavior such as social contact behavior. Unemployed people often represent a marginal group on the labor market and have unstable employment histories. Due to their low level of education, they often have occupations that are difficult to shift to the home office and involve direct contact with other people. Their risk of infection should therefore be higher than in the general population and their prevention-related behavior should be particularly relevant for the course of the pandemic. Overall, this population group is likely to be particularly badly affected by the pandemic from an economic and health point of view. The sample is to be drawn from an existing panel study. This was funded by the DFG in two projects and focused on the short and long-term psychological consequences of unemployment and re-employment. As part of the last three of the twelve waves, some COVID-19-related aspects (e.g. concerns about the loss of relatives, social contact behavior) were and are already being surveyed. In addition, data on mental health and data on the degree to which important psychological needs are met have been available since 2013 (collected at intervals of three to five months). These variables will also be collected in the two further waves of the project and e.g. act as predictors of pandemic-related concerns and fears, attitudes, and prevention-related behaviors. In addition, further questions on pandemic-related variables (e.g. compliance with measures, willingness to vaccinate) are included. Specifically, it is to be examined how pandemic-related worries and fears, changes in mental health and in the fulfillment of needs lead to a change in attitudes relevant to prevention and condition behaviors. The special design also makes it possible to determine how infection prevention measures such as curfews, fear-related appeals and restrictions on public life affect these variables. The project will lead to valuable conclusions for the design of preventive measures and communication strategies in pandemics, which will help to design them even more effectively in the future.