How do pandemics affect your self-preservation instinct? Disentangling the mediation effect of secondary traumatic stress

Purpose Contemporary focus on infections and deaths in the event of pandemics may distract health institutions and medical practitioners from the psychosocial consequences of the outbreak in individuals. In light of the devastation, persistency and scarcity of pandemics, it is imperative to delve into individuals' psychological state and self-preservation instincts when confronted with the environmental danger arising from pandemic conditions and the environmental restrictions being imposed.Design/methodology/approach Guided by the self-preservation theory, the authors advance a research model to elucidate the moderated mediation effect of secondary traumatic stress on an individual's reactions when faced with environmental danger and restriction. The authors also consider the moderating influence of environmental restriction and media use diversity. The authors subsequently validated the research model via a survey with 2,016 respondents in China. The authors employed PLS-SEM to analyze the data and assess the hypothesized paths.Findings Analytical results revealed that secondary traumatic stress fully mediated the impact of environmental danger on external reliance but suppresses the mediating effects on internal reliance. The authors further confirmed that environmental restriction moderated the relationship between environmental danger and reliance. Furthermore, the authors attest to the moderating influence of media use diversity on the relationship between secondary traumatic stress and external reliance.Originality/value This study not only extends the theoretical lens of self-preservation to public health emergencies but also yields practical guidelines for coping with pandemics. Insights from this study can be harnessed to aid populations worldwide in coping and recovering from pandemics.