Perceived COVID-19 risk is attenuated by ingroup trust: evidence from three empirical studies

Abstract

Background The social identity model of risk taking proposes that people take more risks with ingroup members because they trust them more. While this can be beneficial in some circumstances, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic it has the potential to undermine an effective public health response if people underestimate the risk of contagion posed by ingroup members, or overestimate the risk of vaccines or treatments developed by outgroup members. Methods Three studies (two prospective surveys, one experiment) with community-based adults tested the potential for the social identity model of risk taking to explain risk perception and risk taking in the context of COVID-19. Results Study 1 was a two-wave study with a pre-COVID baseline, and found that people who identified more strongly as a member of their neighborhood pre-COVID tended to trust their neighbors more, and perceive interacting with them during COVID-19 lockdown to be less risky. Study 2 (N = 2033) replicated these findings in a two-wave nationally representative Australian sample. Study 3 (N = 216) was a pre-registered experiment which found that people indicated greater willingness to take a vaccine, and perceived it to be less risky, when it was developed by an ingroup compared to an outgroup source. We interpret this as evidence that the tendency to trust ingroup members more could be harnessed to enhance the COVID-19 response. Conclusions Across all three studies, ingroup members were trusted more and were perceived to pose less health risk. These findings are discussed with a focus on how group processes can be more effectively incorporated into public health policy, both for the current pandemic and for future contagious disease threats.

United We Stand, Divided We Fall: Sociopolitical Predictors of Physical Distancing and Hand Hygiene During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

“…Thus seeing the community as safe and trustworthy may potentially undermine compliance with public health directions. This may be driven by the increased trust (and therefore reduced sense of risk) associated with being part of the same group (Cruwys et al, 2020(Cruwys et al, , 2021. A shared ingroup suggest that others can be trusted, which is in turn associated with greater perceptions of safety and more risky behavior (less social distance and hand hygiene).…”

“…However, elements of trust and safety may be counteractive to COVID-19 health behaviors (physical distance and hand hygiene). Perceiving that one's group is safe and trustworthy is associated with greater risk behavior (Cruwys et al, 2020) and may in the current circumstance result in less health behaviors (Cruwys et al, 2021). We therefore explore the elements of positive relations that are most helpful and also counterproductive in predicting COVID-19 health behaviors.…”

Who helps and why? A longitudinal exploration of volunteer role identity, between‐group closeness, and community identification as predictors of coordinated helping during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Social identity‐based research indicates that this selflessness could be due to collective identities being associated with a sense of shared fate (created by the viral threat), which enables a better understanding of fellow group members’ suffering (Kellezi et al, 2019 ). In addition, although it was not measured in the present study, possessing high levels of community identification is likely to encourage people to perceive those needing help within their community as fellow ingroup members, and there is evidence that shared group membership increases COVID‐19‐related risk‐taking in intragroup situations (Cruwys et al, 2020 , 2021 ), which may encourage helping behaviour that would be perceived as being too risky in intergroup contexts. In sum, the present study advances several literatures and theoretical understandings by shedding light on how inter‐ and intra‐group processes interact to predict the provision of coordinated emergency aid in the unique context of the pandemic.…”

“…While the pandemic remains, it is also important to address safety issues which may be a side-effect of increased community identification. As mentioned above, there is the possibility that possessing high levels of community identification may encourage people to perceive those needing help within their community as fellow ingroup members, which could encourage risky behaviour that may increase the spread of COVID-19 (Cruwys et al, 2020(Cruwys et al, , 2021. Voluntary groups (both formal and informal) must recognise this and protect their volunteers as much as possible by putting appropriate safety measures in place (e.g., social distancing, safety training, reducing the number of volunteers working in one area simultaneously, and using personal protective Such measures will help to ensure the safety of volunteers, beneficiaries, and the wider community.…”

Crowd dynamics research in the era of Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges and opportunities

“…There is evidence suggesting that the extent to which crowd members act safely may depend on the group definition and social norms ( Stott et al, 2001 , Templeton, 2021 ), which highlights the importance of group processes in understanding risky behaviour. Research has shown that group processes at crowd events are core to the understanding of safe behaviour, such as how perceived risk is attenuated by ingroup relations ( Cruwys et al, 2021 ). In fact, there exists much useful social psychology knowledge pertinent to crowd management to be adopted and further pursued by crowd researchers with respect to pandemic research and risk avoidance in crowded spaces.…”