A Phronetic Iterative Analysis of Decisions to Disclose Negative Feelings About Others’ (Non)compliance with Recommended COVID Precaution Behaviors

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study analyzed 212 college students’ decisions to express or suppress negative feelings about the extent to which others enact recommended COVID-19 precaution behaviors. Using a phronetic iterative analysis, participant experiences were examined in terms of (a) choices to express or suppress their negative feelings and (b) the reasons underlying their disclosure decisions. Significant themes emerged with both response categories. The themes and study findings are discussed in relation to privacy management, subjective norms, and bystander intervention work. Further implications of these findings are also discussed in their extension of and relevance to existing work on compliance-centered interventions and disclosure decisions in health-related contexts.