Who complies with prevention guidelines during the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Italy? An empirical study

During the SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy, different protective measures were taken to reduce the spread of the virus and ensure long-term public health. These include, amongst others (vaccination campaigns), a variety of prevention guidelines such as washing hands, social distancing, and wearing masks. Notably, although such prevention guidelines represent one of the primary weapons to control the virus, people's willingness toward them highly varied during the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Italy. This challenging scenario brings to consider which factors and how they affect citizens' adherence to protective behaviours during the pandemic. The present research aimed to deepen the association between fear of COVID-19 and compliance with prevention guidelines, also addressing the moderating role of personality as captured by the Dark Triad. The study was carried out with 205 participants via an online cross-sectional design. Results revealed a positive association between fear of COVID-19 and compliance with prevention guidelines. Additionally, only psychopathy and narcissism moderated this link, weakening the impact of fear on compliance. These findings yielded theoretical implications about the role of malevolent personalities on the functional impact of fear in public adherence to healthy and preventive practices. Limits and future research directions were discussed.