Understanding Non-Compliance with Prevention Measures against COVID-19 Infections in Germany [U-COMPLY]

为防止COVID-19感染和致命疾病结果的进一步传播，需要更深入地了解违反现行COVID-19预防措施的原因。这种理解将有助于对流行病应对措施进行知情的评估、调整和交流。这需要两个方面：1）查明不遵守这些措施的人群; 2）研究导致不遵守的行动产生机制。因此，本项目旨在提供一份清单，说明不同人群违反规定行为的程度（例如，戴口罩、限制接触和移动半径、前往高风险地区后进行检测或遵守隔离）。在此基础上，该项目的主要目标是通过分析个人和情境特征在国家和地方流行病状况下的影响，解释违反预防措施的情况。为了更好地理解这种违规行为背后的行为产生机制，我们使用当前的理论，通过个人和情境特征的相互作用来解释人类行为（如心理学的双重过程理论、框架选择的社会学模型、犯罪学的情境行为理论、以及医学社会学的文化-行为模式）。收集和分析各种数据来源将为项目提供实证基础。首先，个人层面的面板数据将提供有关实际行为、个人特征及其随时间变化的信息--反映人们对大流行的适应。其次，将进行析因小插曲实验来操纵情境特征，否则由于道德和实践问题，这将具有挑战性。这种实验方法对于检验因果假设和调查行动产生机制特别有用。第三，关于大流行的地方和时间状况的区域信息（例如，感染率或死亡率）将与调查数据挂钩。结合这些不同的数据来源，将更好地了解行为违规的原因，以便针对不同人群制定针对COVID-19的干预措施。该项目的研究结果将被用来得出关于如何诱导行为改变和改变潜在社会规范的建议，例如，通过调整指导方针并将其传达给特定群体（例如，父母、高危群体、独居者）。

To prevent the further spread of COVID-19 infections and fatal disease outcomes, a deeper understanding of the causes of violations of current COVID-19 prevention measures is needed. This understanding will facilitate informed assessment, adaptation, and communication of pandemic response measures. This requires two aspects: 1) identifying populations that are not complying with such measures; and 2) examining the action-generating mechanisms that lead to non-compliance.Therefore, this project aims to provide an inventory of the extent to which different populations violate prescribed behaviors (e.g., wearing masks, restricting contact and movement radii, testing after travel to high-risk areas, or complying with quarantine). Building on this, the main goal of this project is to explain the violations of preventive measures by analyzing the influence of personal and situational characteristics in the context of the national and local state of the pandemic. To better understand the action-generating mechanisms behind such violations, we use current theories that explain human behavior through the interplay of personal and situational characteristics (such as psychological Dual-Process Theories, the sociological Model of Frame Selection, the criminological Situational Action Theory, and the Cultural-Behavioral Model from medical sociology).The empirical basis of the project will be provided by the collection and analysis of various data sources. First, person-level panel data will provide information on actual behaviors, personal characteristics, and their changes over time – reflecting people's adaptations to the pandemic. Second, factorial vignette experiments will be conducted to manipulate situational characteristics, which would otherwise be challenging due to ethical and practical concerns. This experimental method is particularly useful for testing causal hypotheses and investigating action-generating mechanisms. Third, regional information on the local and temporal status of the pandemic (e.g., the incidence of infections or deaths) will be linked to the survey data. This allows for the study of individual responses to the evolution of the pandemic.Combining these different data sources will yield a better understanding of the causes of behavioral breaches in order to develop interventions against COVID-19 for different populations. The project's findings will be used to derive recommendations on how to induce behavioral change and alter underlying social norms, e.g., by adapting guidelines and communicating them to specific groups (e.g., parents, at-risk groups, those living alone).