Acute anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with higher levels of everyday altruism

Abstract

Prior laboratory research has suggested that humans may become more prosocial in stressful or threatening situations, but it is unknown whether the link between prosociality and defense generalizes to real-life. Here, we examined the association between defensive responses to a real-world threat (the COVID-19 pandemic) and everyday altruism. Four independent samples of 150 (N = 600) US residents were recruited online at 4 different timepoints, and self-report measures of perceived COVID-19 threat, defensive emotions (e.g., stress and anxiety), and everyday altruism were collected. Our operationalization of defensive emotions was inspired by the threat imminence framework, an ecological model of how humans and animals respond to varying levels of threat. We found that perceived COVID-19 threat was associated with higher levels of everyday altruism (assessed by the Self-report Altruism scale). Importantly, there was a robust association between experiencing acute anxiety and high physiological arousal during the pandemic (responses typically characteristic of higher perceived threat imminence), and propensity to engage in everyday altruism. Non-significant or negative associations were found with less acute defensive responses like stress. These findings support a real-life relation between defensive and altruistic motivation in humans, which may be modulated by perceived threat imminence.

The convergence between defence and care in mammals

“…Existing work on the influence of parenting on stress and anxiety often focuses on clinical manifestations [e.g., 75,76], and the effects are confounded by contextual and social aspects (e.g., partner support, financial situation [77]). Crucially, previous work did not take into account the differentiation between defensive responses (stress and anxiety versus fear and panic), which might be key according to recent findings [59]. More research is therefore warranted to determine whether and how caregiving experience alters defensive tendencies in humans.…”

“…Studies using analysis of public surveillance footage reported bystanders are generally likely to intervene when others were in need [56], with the likelihood of intervention being higher in the presence of danger [57,58]. Also, a recent study conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic found that individuals reporting higher perceived threat and acute anxiety to the pandemic (including feelings of panic and autonomic arousal) also reported higher levels of everyday altruism [59]. Outline of an experimental paradigm to assess helping under imminent and distal threat.…”