The impact of perceived social norms on hand-washing behaviour in a UK student sample

Abstract

Background: Hand-washing is the single most successful and influential way of preventing the spread of infectious illnesses. Therefore, investigating the factors which influence hand-washing practices is an important first step in the development of interventions to increase this behaviour. Social Norms Theory (SNT) may represent a useful framework for investigating hand-washing behaviour in students. SNT examines the beliefs individuals hold about how frequently their peers engage in particular behaviours, and the effect these beliefs have on their own behaviour. The current study aims to determine the influence of perceived social norms on self-reported hand-washing behaviour in a student sample. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 152 participants (40 males, 112 females, mean age 26.3 years) completed self-report measures of frequency of hand-washing behaviour and perceived social norms via an online questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine if perceived social norms predicted self-reported hand-washing behaviour. Findings: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that participants believed their own hand-washing was more frequent than that of their peers (Z = -7.760, p <.001). In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that gender (β= 1.80, p =.019) and social norms (β = 4.10, p <.001) predicted self-reported hand-washing frequency, explaining a total of 23.4% of the variance (R² = .234, p <.001). Discussion: These results demonstrate that SNT may represent a useful approach to understanding hand-washing behaviour in students. Interventions based on SNT may be effective in improving hand-washing behaviour in this sample.