Understanding Public’s Adoption of Preventive Behavior during COVID-19
Pandemic using Health Belief Model: Role of Appraisals and Psychological
Capital
Abstract
The relationship between health psychological capital, determinants of
health belief model (HBM), and individual’s adoption of preventive
behaviors were studied. Participants from Pakistan (N= 323) and Malaysia
(N= 343) completed an online survey. Samples from both countries were
analyzed separately and compared for measurement model invariance and
difference in path coefficients. Data screening, frequency analysis, and
common method bias were analyzed using IBM-SPSS-25®. Partial least
squares approach to SEM using SMART-PLS 3 software was adopted to
analyze the measurement model, structural model, importance-performance
analysis, and mediation testing. Our finding showed that model explained
higher variance in preventive behavior for Pakistani samples compared to
Malaysian samples. Perceived benefits followed by perceived threats were
the two most important predictors of preventive behaviors in both
countries. The perceived barrier was an important predictor for the
Pakistani sample but had no contribution to the Malaysian sample. Health
PsyCap had a direct as well as an indirect effect through perceived
benefit and perceived threat (Malaysian sample only) on the outcome.
Perceived seriousness and perceived susceptibility (Malaysian sample
only) were related to preventive behavior through perceived threat.