Anxiety and Stocking up in the Coronavirus Pandemic: An Examination in the Frame of Social Value Orientation and Socioeconomic Level

Abstract

The aim of the study was to test the moderating role of socioeconomic status in the relationship between anxiety and stocking up on basic food and hygiene products during the coronavirus pandemic and to examine stocking up behavior in terms of the social value orientations. A total of 529 participants, 349 women and 189 men, took part in the study. Participants were asked to answer the Demographic Information Form and the Triple Dominance Measure of Social Value and the questions measuring the level of anxiety and stocking up behavior prepared by the researchers using an online questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, independent samples t test and moderated regression analysis as suggested by Aiken and West (1991 were used. It was found that socioeconomic level moderated the relationship between the anxiety levels of individuals and their stocking behaviors. According to the findings of the study stocking up behaviors also increase as the anxiety levels of individuals with high socioeconomic status increase; whereas there was no significant relationship between the anxiety level of individuals with low socioeconomic status and their stocking up behaviors. In addition, when stocking up behavior is examined in terms of social value orientations, it was found that pro-social individuals with cooperation motivation in their interpersonal relationships show less stocking behavior than pro-self individuals with competitive or individualistic motivation. It is thought that the findings of this study, which examines the responses of individuals to this global crisis in the frame of their psychosocial variables, will contribute to both the theoretical and the applied areas related to social policies.