The relationship between pre-service teacher's thinking stlyles and perceptions and attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic

It is thought that thinking styles may be effective in the formation of positive perceptions and attitudes towards the COVID-19 epidemic. For this reason, in the research, determining the perceptions and attitudes [CSAT] and thinking styles [SWDS] of pre-service teachers towards the COVID-19 epidemic, determining the level of relationship between CSAT and SWDS with various variables; It is aimed to determine the relationship between CSAT and SWDS. The exploratory correlation model, which is a quantitative research method, was used in the research. The population of the research consists of 485 teacher candidates studying at the education faculty of a university in the west of Turkey in the 2022-2023 academic year. According to the research findings, pre-service teachers have a positive perception according to the scores obtained from the CSAT scale's perception of illness, perception of causes, and perception of control; It was determined that personal contact avoidance behavior scores were higher than the avoidance behaviors subscale. There was a difference between the CSAT scale and other variables except grade level. The highest mean scores according to SWDS dimensions; It has been determined that there are legislative, hierarchical, local, external and liberal styles. Significant relationships were found between SWDS dimensions and gender, place of residence, maternal education level, means of accessing information about the COVID-19 outbreak, and department. In addition, weak correlations were found between the CSAT and SWDS sub-dimensions