A new working paper systematically reviews data scholars have collected and analysed about why people complied with the social distancing measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emmeke Kooistra and Benjamin van Rooij compared findings about what types of variables shape compliance across 45 studies found in searches from March 1^st till June 30^th 2020.

The review shows that a combination of variables shaped compliance behaviour. For example, people’s fear of the virus and attitudes towards the mitigation measures matter for compliance. Psychosocial factors such as social norms, impulsivity, negative emotions and self-efficacy also predict compliance behaviour. Likewise, people’s personal situation matters for compliance, as people with more practical capacity to obey and less opportunity to violate the rules are more likely to comply with social distancing measures.

Notably, the reviewed studies did not find that law enforcement (perceived deterrence) predicts social distancing compliance. This indicates that fining people for not following the COVID-19 social distancing measures, the major intervention for authorities to increase compliance, will most likely not result in more compliance.

The review can aid policymakers wishing to model, plan, and decide on mitigation measures for future outbreaks. Also, it provides insights for scholars who generally want to learn about compliance with mitigation measures during the pandemic.

The full working paper can be found online [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3738047]. Note: This working paper has not yet been peer reviewed.