Mentality and behavior in COVID-19 emergency status in Japan: Influence of personality, morality and ideology

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019 and severely influenced society. In response, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency on 7th April in seven prefectures. The study conducted an immediate survey on 8th April to record the response of the general public to the first emergency status due to epidemics. The study hypothesized that personality traits, moral foundation, and political ideology can influence people's mentality, cognition, and behavior toward COVID-19. Based on a nationwide dataset of 1856 respondents (male = 56.3%, M age = 46.7, emergency regions = 49.9%), the study found that personality, morality, and ideology altered mental health status and motivated behaviors toward COVID-19. Neuroticism and avoiding harm involved cognition and behavior through various means. The study also found significant differences among demographic groups. Results are informative and contributive to the governance and management of, and aid for, individual responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voluntary adoption of social welfare-enhancing behavior: Mask-wearing in Spain during the COVID-19 outbreak

“…The age cohort that is least likely to wear masks is the youngest (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). The subsequent age cohort (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35) is significantly more likely to wear a mask. Further, every older age group is significantly more likely to wear a mask than the youngest cohort (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25).…”

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Big Five Personality on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being

“…Several studies have assessed well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, often during periods of lockdown (for early reviews, see Sher, 2020;Xiong et al, 2020). For example, studies have measured sleep problems and stress in China in February (Zhao, Lan, Li, & Yang, 2020), distress in Italy in March (Mazza et al, 2020), well-being in Spain in March (Blasco-Belled, Tejada-Gallardo, Torrelles-Nadal, & Alsinet, 2020;Suso-ribera & Martín-brufau, 2020), distress in Japan in April (Qian & Yahara, 2020), and the experience of Australian families in April (Evans et al, 2020). While results are mixed, this research has often found relatively high levels of distress.…”

“…Researchers have examined personality correlates of a wide range of variables including pathogen avoidance (Makhanova & Shepherd, 2020), economic anxiety (Mann, Krueger, & Vohs, 2020), compliance with government advice (De Coninck et al, 2020;Zajenkowski et al, 2020), safety behaviors (Aschwanden et al, 2020;Blagov, 2020;Carvalho, Pianowski, & Gonçalves, 2020), consumer stockpiling (Dammeyer, 2020;Garbe, Rau, & Toppe, 2020), and concerns about coronavirus (Bacon & Corr, 2020). There have also been several studies correlating personality with well-being during various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Jørgensen, Bor, Lindholt, & Petersen, 2020;Kroencke, Geukes, Utesch, Kuper, & Back, 2020;Michinov & Michinov, 2020;Modersitzki, Phan, Kuper, & Rauthmann, 2020;Qian & Yahara, 2020;Russo, Hanel, Altnickel, & van Berkel, 2020;Zajenkowski et al, 2020). However, these studies generally lack a pre-COVID comparison group.…”

COVID-19 with Stigma: Theory and Evidence from Mobility Data

“…Kawaguchi et al ( 2020 ) use data from small and medium-sized Japanese enterprises to find that, in the short term, the state of emergency reduces both feasible and expected sales. Qian and Yahara ( 2020 ) conduct a survey under the state of emergency and find that accuracy, morality, and ideology are changing people’s behavior and mental health in response to COVID-19. Finally, Yamamura and Tsutsui ( 2020 ) analyze individual-level changes in preventive behavior and mental status due to the emergency declaration.…”