Health officials recommended a number of COVID-19 infection control measures, such as social distancing and face covering. This study explores whether depression influences individuals' moral judgments regarding COVID-19 infection control behaviors and policies. In this study, participants (N = 340) were US residents, recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk in March of 2020. Participants completed several questionnaires, such as demographics, including political affiliation, a depression screener, and a series of questions designed to capture individuals' moral judgments of infection control behaviors and policies. ANCOVA analyses indicated that, controlling for demographics, political affiliation, and the degree of news following, depression symptom level was consistently inversely related to the likelihood of judging infection control in moral terms. Depression symptom level was also inversely related to sensitivity to manipulation of moral judgments for personal behaviors, but not for policies. Individuals with higher levels of depression symptoms may be less willing to advocate for higher personal safety measures, which could lead to a higher likelihood of disease transmission. Outside of the pandemic, the lower propensity for moral judgment could translate into greater acceptance of morally questionable acts and behaviors from others.
Keywords: COVID-19; Depression; morality; public health.