Book contents
- Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Part I Evidence from Experiments and Behavioural Insights
- 2 What Have We Learned from Behavioural Economics for the COVID-19 Response?
- 3 Adaptation, COVID-19, and Climate Change
- 4 Risk-Taking, Risk Perception, and Risk Compensation in Times of COVID-19
- 5 A False Sense of Security?
- 6 Preparing for the Next Pandemic
- 7 Human Challenge Trials for Research on COVID-19 and Beyond
- 8 Do the Public Support ‘Hard’ or ‘Soft’ Public Policies?
- 9 One Size Does Not Fit All
- 10 Psychological and Behavioural Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
- 11 Behavioural Science and the Irish COVID-19 Response
- 12 On the Use of Behavioural Science in a Pandemic
- 13 Behavioural Public Health?
- Part II Health Behaviours and Policies during Covid-19
- Index
- References
5 - A False Sense of Security?
Face Masking and Social Distancing
from Part I - Evidence from Experiments and Behavioural Insights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2025
- Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics
- Part I Evidence from Experiments and Behavioural Insights
- 2 What Have We Learned from Behavioural Economics for the COVID-19 Response?
- 3 Adaptation, COVID-19, and Climate Change
- 4 Risk-Taking, Risk Perception, and Risk Compensation in Times of COVID-19
- 5 A False Sense of Security?
- 6 Preparing for the Next Pandemic
- 7 Human Challenge Trials for Research on COVID-19 and Beyond
- 8 Do the Public Support ‘Hard’ or ‘Soft’ Public Policies?
- 9 One Size Does Not Fit All
- 10 Psychological and Behavioural Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
- 11 Behavioural Science and the Irish COVID-19 Response
- 12 On the Use of Behavioural Science in a Pandemic
- 13 Behavioural Public Health?
- Part II Health Behaviours and Policies during Covid-19
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter presents a body of behavioural work that analyses the relationship between face mask use and social distancing. The majority of these studies does not find evidence of a negative effect of mask-wearing on distancing. This evidence, however, might not yet be definitive, as there seem to be exceptions. These exceptions are not sufficient to justify the delay in the implementation of masking policies and recommendation during the pandemic but raise interesting questions as to where this heterogeneity may come from. These insights could, in turn, extend to the general discussion on the almost fifty-year-old topic of risk compensation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Behavioural Economics and Policy for PandemicsInsights from Responses to COVID-19, pp. 77 - 91Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024