Collectivism, individualism and COVID-19 prevention: a cross sectional study of personality, culture and behavior among Canadians

Abstract

Background Collectivism has been identified as a protective factor against COVID-19 – perhaps due to increased conformity with social norms regarding prevention behaviors. Other studies have also found that individualism can inspire uptake of preventative behaviors as a means of personal protection. It is possible that these cultural orientations may promote different patterns of prevention (e.g. mask wearing vs. social distancing). Furthermore, existing studies examining the role of individualism and collectivism during the COVID-19 pandemic have frequently failed to account for other psychological processes, including differences in personality, which could help provide a better understanding of the psychological process underlying prevention behavior. Methods Participants were recruited using social media advertisements. The Cultural Orientations Scale measured individualism–collectivism and hierarchism-egalitarianism. The Ten Item Personality Inventory measured the five factor model of personality. Multivariable models, dominance analyses and structural equation mediation tests were used to identify the most important predictors of COVID-19 prevention behavior (i.e. mask-wearing, hand-washing, reducing social interactions, physical distancing, staying at home and social bubbling), controlling for demographic and situational factors. Results Among 774 participants, most (i.e. 60–80%) reported uptake of COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Higher vertical (hierarchical) collectivism was associated with staying at home and higher horizontal (egalitarian) individualism was associated with mask-wearing and reducing social interactions. Neither Vertical Collectivism nor Horizontal Collectivism were significantly associated with any of the prevention behaviors when controlling for personality traits and confounding variables. Agreeableness was identified as a key mediator of the correlation between these cultural orientations on general uptake of COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Conclusions Cultural orientations (e.g. collectivism-individualism, hierarchism-egalitarianism) and personality traits (e.g. Agreeableness) are salient correlates of COVID-19 prevention behaviors and therefore should be accounted for in the development, design and delivery of health promotion messages aiming to increase uptake of these behaviors.

Adolescents’ Opinions on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Hints toward Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness in the Future

“…The randomization framework allows us to analyze the effect of two different arguments on affecting people’s beliefs. The first argument aims to highlight the benefits of the vaccination campaign, seen as either a public good or an individual good [ 30 , 31 ]. This choice is driven by the fact that individuals can act according to the logic of free-riding, attempting to avoid the possible side effects of getting vaccinated by benefiting from the vaccination of others [ 32 ].…”

Health Education in Pandemic: Students’ Perception and Motivation Correlate with Prevention Behaviors

“…(Gravagna et al, 2022). Other research shows that a person's personality greatly influences behavior in preventing Covid-19 (Card, 2022).…”

“…The current status of Covid-19 transmission is still ongoing despite the mass vaccination that has been conducted. Behaviors in Covid-19 prevention become important to be continuously considered every day (Card, 2022;Chakraborty et al, 2021;Golden et al, 2021;Hossain et al, 2022;Menebo, 2022;Ohtomo & Kimura, 2022;Sinyor et al, 2021). Students play a role in helping the prevention of Covid-19 transmission that is emerged in the communities.…”

How Much Collectivism Is There in Young Adults’ Collectivism? Vaccination Against COVID-19 in Serbia

“…In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, stronger collectivism on a country level correlates negatively with the number of confirmed cases of infection, as well as the COVID-19-related mortality rate (Rajkumar, 2021; Webster et al, 2021). Throughout studies, collectivism has been consistently related to greater compliance with preventative COVID-19 measures, such as mask- wearing, hand-washing, reducing social interactions, physical distancing, staying at home and social bubbling (Card, 2022; Xiao, 2021). Besides individual collectivism, country-level collectivism has an impact on compliance with preventive measures as well (Biddlestone et al, 2020; Germani et al, 2020; Kim et al, 2016).…”