Browsing by Author "Avsec, Andreja"

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    COVID-19 and Social Distancing: A Cross-Cultural Study of Interpersonal Distance Preferences and Touch Behaviors Before and During the Pandemic
    (2024) Croy, Ilona; Heller, Carina; Akello, Grace; Anjum, Afifa; Atama, Chiemezie; Avsec, Andreja; Bizumic, Boris; Borges Rodrigues, Ricardo; Boussena, Mahmoud; Butovskaya, Marina; Can, Seda; Cetinkaya, Hakan; Contreras-Garduno, Jorge; Lopes, Rui Costa; Czub, Marcin; Demuthova, Slavka; Dronova, Daria; Dural, Seda; Eya, Oliver Ifeanyi; Fatma, Mokadem; Frackowiak, Tomasz; Guemaz, Farida; Hromatko, Ivana; Kafetsios, Konstantinos; Kavcic, Tina; Khilji, Imran; Kruk, Magdalena; Lazar, Catalin; Lindholm, Torun; Londero-Santos, Amanda; Monaghan, Conal; Shahid, Anam; Musil, Bojan; Natividade, Jean Carlos; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Oleszkiewicz, Anna; Onyishi, Ike E.; Onyishi, Charity; Pagani, Ariela F.; Parise, Miriam; Pisanski, Katarzyna; Plohl, Nejc; Popa, Camelia; Prokop, Pavol; Rizwan, Muhammad; Sainz, Mario; Sargautyte, Ruta; Sharad, Shivantika; Valentova, Jaroslava; Varella, Marco; Yakhlef, Belkacem; Yoo, Gyesook; Zager Kocjan, Gaja; Zupancic, Maja; Sorokowska, Agnieszka
    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of unprecedented safety measures, one of them being physical distancing recommendations. Here, we assessed whether the pandemic has led to long-term effects on two important physical distancing aspects, namely interpersonal distance preferences and interpersonal touch behaviors. We analyzed nearly 14,000 individual cases from two large, cross-cultural surveys - the first conducted 2 years prior to the pandemic and the second during a relatively stable period of a decreased infection rate in May-June 2021. Preferred interpersonal distances increased by 54% globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was observable across all types of relationships, all countries, and was more pronounced in individuals with higher self-reported vulnerability to diseases. Unexpectedly, participants reported a higher incidence of interpersonal touch behaviors during than before the pandemic. We discuss our results in the context of prosocial and self-protection motivations that potentially promote different social behaviors.