Explanation of Intention and Behavior Gap in Following the Health Protocols of Coronavirus based on Trait Self Control and Executive Functions Variables

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is spreading around the world very fast. One of the affaires recommended from the first days of the epidemic to prevent the further spread of the virus is to follow health protocols. Despite repeated recommendations, a significant portion of people still have difficulty to follow these protocols while intending to do so. The purpose of this study was the explanation of the intention-behavior gap in following the health protocols of coronavirus based on trait self-control and executive functions variables.

Methodology of this research was causal-comparative and the statistical population of this study was adults who had access to the Internet. The research sample consisted of 60adults who were selected by convenience sampling method and inclusion criteria, and after matching in two groups with high and low intention-behavior gap were replaced. Participants in this study answered to Tanji self-control scale (2004), Wisconsin card sorting test (1948), Go/nogo test (2002), N-back test (1958), and intention-behavior researcher-made scale. To analyze data Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests were used.

The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of self-control, but there was a significant difference in terms of executive functions (P = 0.05).

In general, it can be concluded that executive functions play a key role in transforming individuals' intentions into behavior.