“Skin in the Game”: Social Goals Implementation Intentions Increase Compliance with COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Despite the proven effectiveness of COVID-19 preventive measures, these remain inoperativeif individuals do not adopt them. We sought out to investigate the effectiveness of a novel type of intervention to foster compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures. Drawing upon the model of action phases and evidence linking social motives to compliance with recommendations, we extended implementation intentions to setting social goals (Social Goals Implementation Intentions, SGII). In a first study in France (N = 161), a brief writing task implementing a future hypothetical encounter with a close one at risk for severe symptoms of COVID-19 increased compliance intentions by 6.38% 95%CI[1.56,11.24], d = .42, relative to a deliberation-only control condition. No moderating role of conspiracy beliefs and mentality was found in exploratory analyses. These results were exactly replicated in a pre-registered study conducted among US participants (N = 223), where the increase was of 6.30% 95%CI[1.22,11.38], d = .34. Vaccine intentions were not affected in both countries. Taken together, our results suggest that SGII is a viable mechanism to design health behavior change interventions. Generating a sense of “skin in the game” may be more effective to bypass irrational beliefs and to foster greater adherence with evidence-based health recommendations.