Fear during crises: the roles of perceived risk, appraisal support and identity resilience

Emotions, such as fear, are important determinants of people’s responses to crises. Fear can be functional or dysfunctional. There is limited research into the influences determining fear levels during crises. This study examines the extent to which variance in fear levels can be accounted for by perceived risk, perceived appraisal support, identity resilience, and perceived job insecurity. Cross-sectional correlational survey data were collected from 294 adults in the United Kingdom during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020. Structural equation modelling showed a direct positive effect of perceived risk of COVID-19 on COVID-19 fear and an indirect effect through perceived job insecurity. There was no direct effect of perceived appraisal support upon COVID-19 fear but there were indirect effects: perceived appraisal support was negatively associated with perceived job insecurity which in turn was positively associated with COVID-19 fear; and perceived appraisal support was positively associated with identity resilience which in turn was negatively associated with COVID-19 fear. Women reported higher perceived appraisal support than men. The current study indicates that to model the antecedents of fear in public crises it is useful, in addition to socio-demographics, to build in perceived risk and corollaries of the original hazard (e.g. perceived job insecurity), identity processes, and access to interpersonal support.