How is Hospitality in the HoReCa Industry Psychologically Affected by COVID-19? Research on Unrealistic Optimism Among HoReCa Workers

As we are facing a new surge of the highly infectious delta variant of COVID-19, there is an urgent need for research to reduce the harm before this next wave hits. In the present paper, we present data that is alarming. We have found that HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, and catering services) workers, who are highly exposed to many new social interactions in close contact, present an un-realistic optimism (UO) bias: they perceive themselves as less at risk to this virus in comparison to others. From the literature, we already know that individuals holding this view are less involved in preventive actions and present more risky behaviors. In the face of the delta variant, this leads to the conclusion that restaurants will be new hot spots. What is more, we found that these unrealistic expectations are more pervasive: workers of the restaurant industry estimate low chances of bankruptcy, which may lead to unrealistic salary expectations, leading owners to a new up-coming wave of crisis: COVID-19 and bankruptcy—both of which may be caused by their workers.

面对德尔塔变异株的新一轮高度传染性疫情激增，我们迫切需要开展研究以减轻此次疫情波及所带来的损害。在本文中，我们揭示了令人警醒的数据。我们发现，酒店、餐饮和餐饮服务（HoReCa）行业工作人员，由于高度暴露于频繁且密切的社会互动中，表现出一种不切实际的乐观偏见（UO）：他们相较于他人，认为自己感染该病毒的风险更低。文献研究表明，持有此类观点的个人往往较少参与预防措施，并展现出更多风险行为。面对德尔塔变异株，这导致了一个结论：餐饮业将成为新的热点。更有甚者，我们发现这种不切实际的预期更为普遍：餐饮行业工作人员估计破产的可能性较低，这可能导致对薪酬的不切实际预期，进而使业主面临即将到来的新危机：COVID-19疫情与破产——这两者均可能源于其工作人员。