Concern about COVID-19 mediates the relationship between life-history strategy and stockpiling food and household groceries

Blanchard, A and Keenan, G Concern about COVID-19 mediates the relationship between life-history strategy and stockpiling food and household groceries. International Journal of Psychology. ISSN 0020-7594 (Accepted)

Text Concern about COVID-19 mediates the relationship between life-history strategy and stockpiling food and household groceries.pdf - Accepted Version Access Restricted Download (265kB)

Abstract

Life-history theory (LHT) charts the relationship of environmental conditions to resource allocation trade-offs made by organisms to either reproduce or invest in somatic maintenance. Hazardous environments in which resources are unreliable should prompt adoption of a “fast” life-history strategy in which short-term gains are favoured. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to examine whether an increase in existential threat as signalled by a shift in environmental status impacted people’s decision making in LHT-relevant domains. In this online psychometric study (N = 274 individuals), we examined whether concerns about COVID-19 mediated the relationship between life-history strategy and the desire to have or have more children, and stockpiling food and household groceries. Contrasting results emerged. COVID-19 concern mediated the relationship between LHS and stockpiling food and household groceries but not LHS and reproduction. These findings highlight potential differences in decision consequences or the type of shift in environmental conditions needed to prompt particular responses.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; Social Psychology; 5201 Applied and developmental psychology; 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology; 5205 Social and personality psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Wiley
Date of acceptance:	4 July 2025
Date Deposited:	11 Jul 2025 13:51
Last Modified:	11 Jul 2025 14:00
DOI or ID number:	10.1002/ijop.70082
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26764

View Item