Does State Tightness-Looseness Predict Behavior and Attitudes Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA?

Abstract

We investigated how tightness-looseness, reflecting strictness of social norms, of state of residence in the USA predicts behaviors and attitudes related to COVID-19. Because individual-level tightness may better capture current attitudes during the pandemic, whereas state-level archival measures reflect historical factors, we assessed the extent to which tightness-looseness at both levels predicted adherence to public health guidelines and biases toward outgroups related to COVID-19. In Spring 2020, 544 mTurk participants, primarily from the 13 tightest and 13 loosest states, completed survey questions about health behaviors in response to COVID-19, endorsement of future policy changes, feeling of responsibility for lives, and attitudes toward groups marginalized during the pandemic (i.e., Asians, older adults). State-level results indicated some associations with attitudes toward Asians and older adults, but effects were not robust. Results based on individuals’ ratings of the tightness of their state indicated that higher levels of perceived tightness were associated with higher levels of protective self-reported public health behaviors (e.g., mask wearing, handwashing) during COVID-19, more endorsement of future policy changes to contain the pandemic, higher reported feelings of responsibility for one’s life, and stronger negative attitudes toward Asians. The relations between tightness and health outcomes persisted after controlling for political attitudes and demographics. Thus, individual, more than state, tightness-looseness accounted for some degree of public health behaviors (unique contribution of individual tightness: R2 = .034) and attitudes toward marginalized groups ( R2 = .020) early during the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of these findings for interventions to support behavior change or combat anti-Asian bias are discussed.

Application of protection motivation theory and cultural tightness-looseness for predicting individuals' compliance with the government's recommended preventive measures during regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China

“…For instance, Schmidt-Petri et al ( 51) investigated people's preventive behaviors against the pandemic in Germany and Japan and found that in two tight cultural countries, the majority of participants enacted preventive behaviors and avoided risk behaviors, such as washing hands and avoiding crowds. Moreover, perceived cultural tightness-looseness was positively associated with their health-related behaviors, such as washing hands and wearing masks (52). In other words, cultural tightnesslooseness might be a significant predictor of individuals' intention to perform preventive behaviors against the pandemic.…”

“…Second, this study introduced the construct of perceived cultural tightness-looseness, which extend PMT and provides a theoretical angle for examining individuals' compliance. Unlike previous research that largely focused on the country or state level of cultural tightness-looseness (52), the current study examined the effect of perceived cultural tightness-looseness at the individual level. Furthermore, the findings indicated that perceived cultural tightness-looseness had a positive impact on individuals' implementation intention.…”

Linking Cultural Tightness, Components of Norm Activation and COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors among University Students: Evidence from Beijing, China

“…It is worth noting that two recent studies have shed light on the direct effect of cultural tightness on individuals’ COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Specifically, Gilliam et al found cultural tightness to be positively associated with several self-reported protective health behaviors (e.g., mask wearing, handwashing) during COVID-19 among 544 residents in the U.S. [ 42 ]. Based on longitudinal data from an international survey, Schumpe et al provided empirical evidence for the critical role of the tightness of culture in predicting adherence to recommended health behaviors against COVID-19 [ 43 ].…”

“…Few studies, however, have directly examined the association between individual-level cultural tightness and NAM components in the context of COVID-19 prevention. An exception is a study by Gilliam et al [ 42 ], which deemed that the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic offered a unique chance to evaluate how cultural tightness relates to individual responses to threats and demonstrated that higher levels of perceived tightness were associated with higher reported feelings of responsibility for one’s life. Generally, societies with a tight culture tend to require their citizens to strictly adhere to social norms, thus leading social members to be more willing to comply with rules and to perceive more responsibility for others [ 14 , 42 , 50 ], which helps protect them from the COVID-19 epidemic and increases the probability that individuals will believe that exhibiting COVID-19 preventive behaviors is necessary and appropriate.…”

Individual costs and community benefits: Collectivism and individuals’ compliance with public health interventions

“…Within the United States, state levels of tightness are positively correlated with state level collectivism index [ 36 ], r (50) = .23, r (49) = .37 omitting Hawaii, although they are clearly differentiable constructs [ 37 ]. On the individual-level, people who perceived that their states had tighter norms were more likely to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors [ 38 ]. Moreover, there were some parallel findings with those reported earlier showing the relationship between collectivism and COVID-19 outcomes [ 1 ].…”