The significance of social context and risk perception in the covid-19 pandemic : A qualitative study with students, seniors, food store workers and care workers

Syftet med denna rapport var att undersöka individer från olika grupper och se hur deras uppfattningar, upplevelser och vardag under Covid-19 pandemin ser ut. Med hjälp av denna förståelse var målet att applicera beteendeteorier och riskteorier relevanta till pandemin i kombination med mentala modeller. Förhoppningen med kopplingen mellan individers upplevelse samt dessa teorier var att skapa en förståelse för vilka aspekter som kan påverka smittspridning. Frågeställningarna som besvarades var: Skiljer det sig mellan grupper hur man förhåller sig till pandemin? Om folk går emot restriktioner eller rekommendationer, hur motiveras det? Hur anser folk att de har förändrat sitt liv om man jämför före och under pandemin? Kan sociala aspekter och uppfattad risk skapa en förståelse för vilka faktorer som påverkar smittspridning? Datainsamlingsmetoden var semistrukturerade intervjuer. Analysmetoden var interpretativ fenomenologisk analys. Tre bredare teman identifierades, agerande, resonerande och förändring. Slutsatsen var att det fanns vissa skillnader mellan grupperna hur de förhåller sig till pandemin och att aktiviteter som går mot rekommendationer och restriktioner var mycket baserat på social kontext, upplevd risk och aktiviteter som deltagarna gjorde innan pandemin. Deltagarna upplevde även att de har gjort en förändring i sina liv. Social kontakt visade sig givande för att känna gemenskap, en känsla av att bidra och att få annan input. Slutligen fastställdes det att den sociala kontexten och betydelsen av den samt riskuppfattning bör vara i åtanke för att förstå smittspridning och därmed pandemin. The aim of this report was to examine individuals from different groups to see how their experiences, beliefs and everyday life has been during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thereafter the aim was to evaluate the results with the help of behavioral and risk theories of relevance to the pandemic in combination with mental models. The idea with the connection between the individual experiences and these theories was to come to an understanding about which aspects affect the spread of the virus. The study was based on the following research questions: Is there a difference between groups how they have adapted to the pandemic? If people go against recommendations and restrictions, how do they motivate that? In what way do people feel they have made a change during the pandemic? Can social aspects and perceived risk create an understanding of which factors affect the spreading of the virus? The data was collected via semi structured interviews. The analysis was made with an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three overarching themes were identified, how the participants act, how they reason, and how they have changed. The conclusion made from the study was that there were some differences between groups how they have adapted to the pandemic and that the motivations behind the activities which were against recommendations and restrictions were largely based on social context, perceived risk and activities the participants were doing before the pandemic. The participants also felt they had made changes to their lives. Social contact was shown to be important to feel a sense of belonging, a feeling of contributing and to get different input. Finally, the conclusion was drawn that social context and perceived risk should be considered to understand the spreading of the virus and thereby the pandemic