People have false prudence of security about Covid risk among friends.

Research shows that people believe they are less likely to catch the virus from friends and family than strangers.

Researchers have found that friends and family's presence or even the thought can give people false prudence of security when it comes to Covid.

Marketers have found that those who believe they previously contracted Covid from a friend or family member are less likely to think they will catch it again than those who acquired it from an acquaintance or stranger.

The team from Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain, says their experiment also shows that this so-called "friends shield" effect appears to be more common among political conservatives than liberals.

"Restricting interactions with close friends and family is a common protective measure to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid-19, but research shows that this practice inadvertently creates other problems. For example, the authors report that people tend to perceive fewer health risks and engage in harmful health behaviors." the authors report.

The findings appear to be related to the so-called "intimacy paradox" — the idea that those among whom we feel closest and safest pose the most significant risk.

Experts have previously increased the issue around gatherings of friends and family at Christmas and other occasions during the Covid pandemic, amid concerns that people are likely to lose vigilance over loved ones, increasing the risk of the infection spreading.

The researchers, Prof. Elin De Vries and Dr. Hyunjung Crystal Lee, conducted a series of online experiments with participants in the United States conducted a series of online experiments with participants in the United States. In one task, the team divided 495 participants into two groups and asked them to write down a few thoughts about a friend or acquaintance. They were then tell to read a paragraph suggesting that junk food, unlike cleansers and masks, increases the risk of severe COVID-19 disease before offering special offers of candy and chips or online store face masks and disinfecting wipes hand sanitizer. Offered.

In another task involving 262 people who did not previously have Covid, the team found people who were asked to imagine contracting the disease from a friend who planned to spend an average of US$9.28 in dollar expenditure on items such as masks or hand sanitizer over two months. . , about half of what those who imagined being infected by friends or strangers planned.