The DOI matches its Crossref record; 50 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Identity change, uncertainty and mistrust in relation to fear and risk of COVID-19
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic produced threats not only to physical and psychological health but also to the very fabric of family, work and social life. Individuals differ markedly in their ability to cope with such threats. Drawing on Identity Process Theory, our study examines identity processes that shape emotional and attitudinal responses to COVID-19. Survey data were collected from 251 adults in the UK during July 2020. Identity resilience, trust in science and scientists, fear of COVID-19 and perceived own risk of infection were measured. Respondents then watched a video clip designed to focus their thinking further upon the disease. Immediately after, levels of feeling afraid, uncertainty about self-protection, mistrust of anyone offering COVID-19 advice, and perceptions of identity change were indexed. A structural equation model of the relationship between these variables was tested and proved a good fit for the data. Identity resilience is negatively related to fear of COVID-19, which in turn is positively related to perceived own risk of COVID-19. Lower identity resilience is associated with greater uncertainty and feeling more afraid. Greater identity change is associated with higher mistrust, uncertainty and feeling more afraid. Trust in science and scientists correlates positively with perceived own risk of COVID-19 and negatively with mistrust of those offering advice on preventive behaviour. This study shows the usefulness of the identity resilience concept in modelling responses to health hazards. It also illustrates that focusing, even for a short time, on the characteristics of such a hazard can elicit perceived identity changes. Arousing fear is unlikely to initiate self-protection in those who are already fearful or who have less identity resilience. Fostering greater general trust in science and scientists, though difficult, will be valuable, particularly in encouraging public acceptance of mass vaccination against the virus when misinformation and conspiracy theories about it abound.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Understandably so, the majority of South Africans live below the poverty line, and thus, saving for times like the pandemic does not become feasible [79].”
From Exploring Psychosocial Stressors and Coping Strategies During the COVID‐19 Lockdown: A Study of Two Low‐Income Communities in South Africa (2025) · cites this paper as [79]
Citations
Cites
Society and the Adolescent Self-Image
Rosenberg, M. (1965) · doi:10.1515/9781400876136 · Cited by 30,126
The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation
Ahorsu, D. K., Lin, C.-Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2022) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8 · Cited by 4,332
COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature
Rajkumar, R. P. (2020) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066 · Cited by 3,574
The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health
Torales, J., O’Higgins, M., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., & Ventriglio, A. (2020) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764020915212 · Cited by 3,013
Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., McIntyre, R. S., Choo, F. N., Tran, B., Ho, R., Sharma, V. K., et al. (2020) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.028 · Cited by 2,571
Functional Fear Predicts Public Health Compliance in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Harper, C. A., Satchell, L. P., Fido, D., & Latzman, R. D. (2021) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00281-5 · Cited by 1,564
(2008) · Cited by 1,325
Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020
Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258 · Cited by 1,264
Coping with Threatened Identities
Breakwell, G. M. (2015) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315733913 · Cited by 1,058
Self-citationAn affordance perspective of team collaboration and enforced working from home during COVID-19
Waizenegger, L., McKenna, B., Cai, W., & Bendz, T. (2020) · European Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.1080/0960085x.2020.1800417 · Cited by 796
Bunting, C., Walker, K. D., & Renn, O. (2008) · International risk governance council bookseries · doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6799-0 · Cited by 753
Credibility and trust in risk communication
Renn, O., & Levine, D. (1991) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1952-5_10 · Cited by 731
Perception of risk: the influence of general trust, and general confidence
Siegrist, M., Gutscher, H., & Earle, T. C. (2005) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/1366987032000105315 · Cited by 668
Modeling compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines: the critical role of trust in science
Plohl, N., & Musil, B. (2020) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2020.1772988 · Cited by 553
The fear of COVID-19 and its role in preventive behaviours
Pakpour, A. H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020) · Journal of Concurrent Disorders · doi:10.54127/wcic8036 · Cited by 463
The Feeling of Risk: New Perspectives on Risk Perception
Slovic, P., & Ball, D. J. (2011) · Energy & Environment · doi:10.1260/0958-305x.22.6.835 · Cited by 456
Representations of the social: Bridging theoretical traditions.
Deaux, K., & Philogène, G. (2001) · Cited by 446
Breakwell, G. M. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139061933 · Cited by 405
Self-citationNostalgia counteracts self‐discontinuity and restores self‐continuity
Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Routledge, C. D., & Arndt, J. (2014) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2073 · Cited by 345
The fear of COVID-19 and its role in preventive behaviors
Pakpour, A. H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020) · Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) · Cited by 337
Bonaiuto, M., Breakwell, G. M., & Cano, I. (1996) · Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1298(199608)6:3 · Cited by 322
Self-citationChanging European Identities: Social Psychological Analyses of Social Change
Breakwell, G. M., & Lyons, E. (1996) · Cited by 310
Self-citationDevelopment of the Perceived Risk of HIV Scale
Napper, L. E., Fisher, D. G., & Reynolds, G. L. (2011) · AIDS and Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10461-011-0003-2 · Cited by 298
Trust and Risk Perception in Western Europe: A Cross‐National Study
Viklund, M. (2003) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/1539-6924.00351 · Cited by 247
Nadelson, L., Jorcyk, C., Yang, D., Jarratt Smith, M., Matson, S., Cornell, K., & Husting, V. (2014) · School Science and Mathematics · doi:10.1111/ssm.12051 · Cited by 235
Going viral: How a single tweet spawned a COVID-19 conspiracy theory on Twitter
Gruzd, A., & Mai, P. (2020) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/2053951720938405 · Cited by 208
Spreading (Dis)Trust: Covid-19 Misinformation and Government Intervention in Italy
Lovari, A. (2020) · Media and Communication · doi:10.17645/mac.v8i2.3219 · Cited by 181
Rossi, A., Panzeri, A., Pietrabissa, G., Manzoni, G. M., Castelnuovo, G., & Mannarini, S. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02177 · Cited by 166
Jaspal, R., & Breakwell, G. M. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139136983 · Cited by 149
Self-citationHow and Why the Understanding of Developmental Continuity and Discontinuity is Important
Schulenberg, J. E., Maggs, J. L., & O’Malley, P. M. (2007) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_19 · Cited by 104
Templeton, A., Tekin, S., Hoerst, C., Vestergren, S., Davidson, L., Ballentyne, S., Madsen, H., & Choudhury, S. (2020) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12400 · Cited by 104
Salvadori, M. (1953) · Stackpole eBooks · Cited by 101
Arsandaux, J., Montagni, I., Macalli, M., Bouteloup, V., Tzourio, C., & Galéra, C. (2020) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12529-020-09857-w · Cited by 100
Collett, N., Pugh, K., Waite, F., & Freeman, D. (2016) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2016.02.043 · Cited by 81 · cited 1×
“Negative self-assessments, especially of self-efficacy and self-esteem, are associated with higher levels of fear of both physical and mental illnesses (see, for instance, Collett et al. 2016; Rossi et al. 2020).”
BackgroundHerek, G. M., Gillis, J. R., Glunt, E. K., Lewis, J. L., Welton, D., & Capitanio, J. P. (1998) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1022157914906 · Cited by 79
Jaspal, R. (2018) · Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) · Cited by 73
Self-citationUnderstanding the mental health burden of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.
Lopes, B., & Jaspal, R. (2020) · Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy · doi:10.1037/tra0000632 · Cited by 60
Self-citationRuiter, R. A. C. (2001) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/16.3.307 · Cited by 53
Jaspal, R., Fino, E., & Breakwell, G. M. (2020) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105320967429 · Cited by 53
Self-citationCommunicating Food Risks in an Era of Growing Public Distrust: Three Case Studies
Löfstedt, R. E. (2011) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01722.x · Cited by 46
Breakwell, G. M. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107323650.021 · Cited by 46
Self-citationBreakwell, G. M., Fino, E., & Jaspal, R. (2021) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/13591053211017208 · Cited by 34
Self-citationIdentity processes in culturally diverse societies: how is cultural diversity reflected in the self?
Chryssochoou, X. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139136983.011 · Cited by 29
Risk: Social Psychological Perspectives
Breakwell, G. M. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.24038-5 · Cited by 27
Self-citationCancer fear and the interpretation of ambiguous information related to cancer
Miles, A., Voorwinden, S., Mathews, A., Hoppitt, L. C., & Wardle, J. (2009) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930802091116 · Cited by 23
Genetic testing and the relationship between specific and general self‐efficacy
Hendy, J., Lyons, E., & Breakwell, G. M. (2006) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1348/135910705x52543 · Cited by 21
Self-citationIn the Age of Societal Uncertainty, the Era of Threat
Breakwell, G. M. (2020) · Frontiers in sociology and social research · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-39315-1_6 · Cited by 14
Tackling the declining uptake of childhood vaccinations
Dowden, A. (2019) · Prescriber · doi:10.1002/psb.1763 · Cited by 5
An investigation into support for restrictions on HIV carriers in the Chicago metropolitan area
Goldsteen, R. L., & Goldsteen, K. S. (1990) · Revista de Saúde Pública · doi:10.1590/s0034-89101990000100006 · Cited by 3
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Schwarzer R., 1995, Measures in Health Psychology: A User’s Portfolio. Causal and Control Beliefs, 35
- Taquet M., 2020, The Lancet Psychiatry
- Yıldırım M., 2020, Psychology, Health & Medicine
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Factors Related to COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors: A Structural Equation Model
Šuriņa, S., Mārtinsone, K., Perepjolkina, V., Koļesņikova, J., Vainik, U., Ruža, A., Vrubļevska, J., Smirnova, D. A., Fountoulakis, K. Ν., & Rancāns, E. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676521 · Cited by 113
Identity resilience: its origins in identity processes and its role in coping with threat
Breakwell, G. M. (2021) · Contemporary Social Science · doi:10.1080/21582041.2021.1999488 · Cited by 88
Self-citationBreakwell, G. M., Fino, E., & Jaspal, R. (2021) · Evaluation & the Health Professions · doi:10.1177/0163278720983416 · Cited by 77
Self-citationJaspal, R., & Breakwell, G. M. (2021) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-021-01681-z · Cited by 74
Self-citationIdentity resilience, social support and internalised homonegativity in gay men
Jaspal, R., & Breakwell, G. M. (2021) · Psychology and Sexuality · doi:10.1080/19419899.2021.2016916 · Cited by 57
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Breakwell, G. M., & Jaspal, R.
- Affiliations
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Nottingham Trent University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jaspal, Rusi
- Venue
- Journal of Risk Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-12-26
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 335-351
- ISSN
- 1366-9877 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4461
- OpenAlex
- W3116849499
- Cited by
- 104
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 21.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Risk Research (publishedVersion)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
- Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, identity resilience, personal transformation, fear, risk perception, uncertainty, distrust, public trust in science, self-protection, health risk perception, identity process theory, vaccine acceptance, misinformation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
