You before me: How vertical collectivism and feelings of threat predicted more socially desirable behaviour during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between outward orientation and COVID-related prosocial behavior, including adherence to containment measures, caring for others and providing support, limiting one’s social life and responsible purchasing behavior. A sample of 500 Slovaks (250 women) aged between 18 and 86 ( M = 44.32, SD = 15.66) participated in the study and responded to questions concerning their sociodemographic and personality characteristics, collectivism and individualism, the consciousness of future consequences and emotional responses to the pandemic. The results show that apart from the perceived threat of COVID-19, vertical collectivism is among the strongest antecedents of COVID-related prosocial behavior. Specifically, feelings of threat, vertical collectivism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, liberalism, and education predicted more prosocial behavior during the pandemic. Consequently, the study indicates that while excessive fear may have adverse effects on individuals’ well-being, appealing to and cultivating collectivistic sentiments could contribute not only to containing the pandemic but also to making others’ lives more bearable while it lasts.

Emotional drivers of the vaccination hesitancy and refusal: A dataset from Slovakia

“…Helping behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic was measured using five items related to the behaviour of participants during the pandemic [2] . Participants stated whether they looked out for people in need, provided emotional support, made selfish buying choices (reverse scored), restricted their social life, and adhered to regulations and hygienic recommendations.…”

“…The dataset in the SAV format together with the syntax is available at OSF ( https://osf.io/9q5ez/ ). The dataset includes variables analysed in the reference study [1] (Adamus et al, 2022) as well as all additional variables reported in Čavojová et al [2] and Adamus et al [3] and unreported variables published in supplementary materials for this paper. Apart from the raw data, supplementary materials include all instructions and a full questionnaire employed in the survey.…”

Culture and COVID-19: Impact of Cross-Cultural Dimensions on Behavioral Responses

“…On the other hand, collectivist countries such as South Korea and Singapore emphasized civic efforts such as persistent mask wearing [44], while individualistic nations such as the US and Italy found it challenging to encourage the adoption of mitigation efforts from early on in the pandemic [45]. For another collectivist country, Slovakia, some research [46] has shown a link between collectivism among Slovaks and containing the pandemic through engagement in prosocial behavior. Similarly, in collectivist China, there appeared to be greater adherence to lockdown rules [6] compared to the United States with its high individualism and lesser willingness to abide by COVID-19 policy recommendations.…”

Tend‐and‐befriend and rally around the flag effects during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Differential longitudinal change patterns in multiple aspects of social cohesion

“…Since, in the context of the pandemic, the very nature of measures implemented to slow down the spread of the virus led to only few behavioural options of interpersonal contact and social engagement, stress responses of prosociality and social support were limited. Several studies on social engagement thus focused on prosocial motivation and tendencies as well as adherence with public health measures such as wearing masks or keeping social distance (Čavojová et al., 2022; Dinić & Bodroža, 2021; Hellmann et al., 2021; Serrano‐Montilla et al., 2021). In this line of research, increased social value orientation was found at early stages of the pandemic in Germany as compared to pre‐pandemic levels for both gender (Hellmann et al., 2021).…”