Historical rice farming explains faster mask use during early days of China's COVID-19 outbreak

People in Tight Cultures and Tight Situations Wear Masks More: Evidence From Three Large-Scale Studies in China

Studies have found large differences in masks use during the pandemic. We found evidence that cultural tightness explains mask use differences and this association was more robust in tight situations like subways. In Study 1, we observed 23,551 people's actual mask use in public places around China. People wore masks more in tight situations; however, differences did not extend to outdoor streets and public parks, where norms are looser. We replicated this finding using a data from 15,985 people across China. Finally, in a preregistered study we observed mask use with the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, people still wore masks more in tight situations like subways than in loose situations of parks. These findings suggest that norm tightness has a lasting association with people's health-protective behaviors, especially in tight situations. It provides insight into how different cultures might respond with future pandemics and in what situations people adopt health-protective behaviors.

How Rice Fights Pandemics: Nature-Crop-Human Interactions Shaped COVID-19 Outcomes

Wealthy nations led health preparedness rankings in 2019, yet many poor nations controlled COVID-19 better. We argue that a history of rice farming explains why some societies did better. We outline how traditional rice farming led to tight social norms and low-mobility social networks. These social structures helped coordinate societies against COVID-19. Study 1 compares rice- and wheat-farming prefectures within China. Comparing within China allows for controlled comparisons of regions with the same national government, language family, and other potential confounds. Study 2 tests whether the findings generalize to cultures globally. The data show rice-farming nations have tighter social norms and less-mobile relationships, which predict better COVID outcomes. Rice-farming nations suffered just 3% of the COVID deaths of nonrice nations. These findings suggest that long-run cultural differences influence how rice societies-with over 50% of the world's population-controlled COVID-19. The culture was critical, yet the preparedness rankings mostly ignored it.

I belong, therefore I am: The role of economic culture in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures

Cultural orientations in relation to individualism and collectivism produced by subsistence strategies can lead to a wide array of consequences for perception, cognition, and emotion. We predict that, as a result of different economic patterns, farmers with greater collectivism would show more compliance with COVID-19 precautionary behavior than herders with greater individualism. By adopting a "just minimal difference" approach, we compared Chinese farming and herding communities that share a national identity, ethnicity, and residential area but vary in their degree of individualism-collectivism. Consistent with our hypothesis, Study 1 found that farmers reported higher compliance with prevention initiatives than herders in self-report survey. Study 2 provided a behavioral choice confirmation of the observed relationship. The present research provides the empirical evidence that economic activities can have divergent effects on mitigation strategies in the COVID-19 fight, and these results have meaningful implications for socioecological psychology theory and for pandemic prevention and control.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

When Interdependence Backfires: The Coronavirus Infected Three Times More People in Rice-Farming Areas During Chinese New Year

Interdependent cultures around the world have generally controlled COVID-19 better. We tested this pattern in China based on the rice theory, which argues that historically rice-farming regions of China are more interdependent than wheat-farming areas. Unlike earlier findings, rice-farming areas suffered more COVID-19 cases in the early days of the outbreak. We suspected this happened because the outbreak fell on Chinese New Year, and people in rice areas felt more pressure to visit family and friends. We found historical evidence that people in rice areas visit more family and friends for Chinese New Year than people in wheat areas. In 2020, rice areas also saw more New Year travel. Regional differences in social visits were correlated with COVID-19 spread. These results reveal an exception to the general idea that interdependent culture helps cultures contain COVID-19. When relational duties conflict with public health, interdependence can lead to more spread of disease.

Collective Resilience and Coping Mechanisms Among International Faculty Members Amid Snap Lockdowns During the Delta and Omicron Variant Outbreaks in East China

This study explores international faculty members’ resilience and the active challenges to establishing coping mechanisms while facing a mental health crisis provoked by the Delta and Omicron lockdowns in China. Grounded in a qualitative approach, this study used a transcendental phenomenological methodology to examine 16 international faculty members affiliated with higher education institutions in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. The findings showed that participants had various mental health issues amid snap lockdowns and persistent nucleic acid application tests. They perceived the most influential sources of coping mechanisms to be (a) social and emotional support; (b) prosocial behavior; and (c) engagement with the public and social services alongside the domestic faculty members. This study emphasizes the significance of collective resilience and prosocial behaviors, calling on future scholars to pay more attention to the host group’s cultural values and community resilience as coping mechanisms during the public health crisis provoked by the pandemic.

Lay theories about emotion recognition explain cultural differences in willingness to wear facial masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Given that mask-wearing proved to be an important tool to slow the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigating the psychological and cultural factors that influence norms for mask wearing across cultures is exceptionally important. One factor that may influence mask wearing behavior is the degree to which people believe masks potentially impair emotion recognition. Based on previous research suggesting that there may be cultural differences in facial regions that people in Japan and the United States attend to when inferring a target's emotional state, we predicted that Americans would perceive masks (which cover the mouth) as more likely to impair emotion recognition, whereas Japanese would perceive facial coverings that conceal the eye region (sunglasses) to be more likely to impair emotion recognition. The results showed that Japanese participants reported wearing masks more than Americans. Americans also reported higher expected difficulty in interpreting emotions of individuals wearing masks (vs. sunglasses), while Japanese reported the reverse effect. Importantly, expectations about the negative impact of facial masks on emotion recognition explained cultural differences in mask-wearing behavior, even accounting for existing social norms.

Normal lark, deviant owl: The relationship between chronotype and compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures

Current evidence suggests that preventive measures, such as social distancing and wearing face masks, are critical to contain the spread of COVID-19. The recent burgeoning literature has empirically examined how a wide range of facet-level personality and individual-differences variables are associated with people's adherence to COVID-19 regulations. However, there lacks direct evidence regarding the role of chronotype in compliance with pandemic safety measures. According to the eveningness epidemiological liability hypothesis, people of later chronotype are more likely to breach COVID-19 restrictions. Despite this hypothesis shedding considerable light on the potential role of chronotype in the abidance of the virus-mitigating measures, it has not been rigorously tested using empirical data. To fill this gap, the present research investigated the link between morningness-eveningness and compliance with COVID-19 containment policies in Chinese samples. Two studies using multiple populations (students and community adults) and diverse measures of adherence to public health guidelines (self-report and actual behavior) consistently show that individuals who orient towards morningness display a higher level of compliance with COVID-19 prevention than people who orient towards eveningness. Overall, these findings present the first empirical confirmation of the eveningness epidemiological liability hypothesis, highlighting the role of chronotype in adherence to COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

Trauma-Informed Care: A Transcendental Phenomenology of the Experiences of International Faculty during the Delta and Omicron Variant Outbreaks in East China

This transcendental phenomenological study explored psychologically traumatic incidents and risk factors among international faculty members (IFMs) who experienced long-term lockdowns during the Delta and Omicron outbreak periods in East China. Based on empirical voices from 18 IFMs in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, this study used trauma-informed care as its primary theoretical lens to examine potential traumatic incidents and risk factors. Findings showed that participants had neuroses about the omen of lockdowns and felt exhausted and frustrated about persistent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. They also experienced or witnessed burnout and dropout due to leisure constraints. Most notably, participants had concerns about families and friends during the series of lockdowns, entailing extreme stress due to separation, illness, loss, and grief. Overall, this study provides practical implications for counseling practices about social and cultural considerations and systemic barriers that impact clients' well-being.

Heightened religiosity proactively and reactively responds to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe: Novel insights from the parasite-stress theory of sociality and the behavioral immune system theory

According to the parasite-stress theory of sociality and the behavioral immune system theory, heightened religiosity serves an anti-pathogen function by promoting in-group assortative sociality. Thus, highly religious countries/territories could have better control of the COVID-19 (proactively avoids disease-threat), and heightened COVID-19 threat could increase religiosity (reactively responds to disease-threat). As expected, country-level religiosity (religion-related online searches (Allah, Buddhism, Jesus, etc.) and number of total religions/ethnoreligions) negatively and significantly predicted COVID-19 severity (a composite index of COVID-19 susceptibility, reproductive rate, morbidity, and mortality rates) (Study 1a), after accounting for covariates (e.g., socioeconomic factors, ecological factors, collectivism index, cultural tightness-looseness index, COVID-19 policy response, test-to-case ratio). Moreover, multilevel analysis accounting for daily- (e.g., time-trend effect, season) and macro-level (same as in Study 1a) covariates showed that country-level religious searches, compared with the number of total religions/ethnoreligions, were more robust in negatively and significantly predicting daily-level COVID-19 severity during early pandemic stages (Study 1b). At weekly level, perceived coronavirus threat measured with coronavirus-related searches (corona, covid, covid-19, etc.), compared with actual COVID-19 threat measured with epidemiological data, showed larger effects in positively predicting religious searches (Study 2), after accounting for weekly- (e.g., autocorrelation, time-trend effect, season, religious holidays, major-illness-related searches) and macro-level (e.g., Christian-majority country/territory and all country-level variables in Study 1) covariates. Accordingly, heightened religiosity could proactively and reactively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.

COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in the Context of the First Delta Outbreak in China During the Early Summer of 2021: The Role of Geographical Distance and Vaccine Talk

Purpose

Vaccination is essential to control the prevalence of COVID-19. However, vaccine hesitancy has been a major issue globally. Some studies have suggested that community outbreaks might boost vaccine uptake. Consistent with that idea, vaccination rates increased dramatically during the first outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Guangdong, China, in June 2021. Based on the risk perception attitude theory, this study attempted to explore the joint effect of geographical distance to the outbreak and the frequency of talking about the COVID-19 vaccine (vaccine talk) on people’s COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Methods

An anonymous self-report online questionnaire was completed by citizens living in Guangdong Province, China, from June 6 to 11, 2021, during the Delta variant outbreak in that region. The relationship between COVID-19 vaccine uptake, geographical distance to the epicenter of the outbreak, and vaccine talk was analyzed using logistic regression analysis.

Results

Data from 350 respondents were included in the final analysis. Results showed a negative association between geographical distance and COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Furthermore, the relationship was moderated by vaccine talk. Specifically, when individuals infrequently discussed vaccine talk with others, close distance to the epicenter of the outbreak served as a motivator for getting vaccinated, whereas for people who frequently discussed the vaccine, geographical distance might have played less of a role in motivating them to get vaccinated.

Conclusion

This research highlights the joint effect of geographical distance to the outbreak of COVID-19 and vaccine talk in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. While the findings may only be a starting point for launching a public health awareness campaign, encouraging people to engage in more conversations about vaccines may be a promising solution for future health emergencies, especially among people far from the outbreak.

Factors associated with mask use in New York City neighborhood parks during the COVID-19 pandemic: A field audit study

BACKGROUND

Mask use is a cost-effective measure to decrease COVID-19 transmission. Mask mandates intend to increase mask compliance but are often ambiguous when it comes to public outdoor spaces.

METHODS

We used a field audit study to examine mask use in New York City neighborhood parks during COVID-19. 1453 park visitors were observed in 13 parks during July-August 2020 using a modified and validated park use audit tool (System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities) that included items on general and proper mask use (i.e., mask covering both nose and mouth). Generalized estimating equation regression was used to determine the association between proper mask use and demographic (sex and age) and behavioral (physical and social activity) variables, while adjusting for community-level covariates.

RESULTS

Overall, 39.0% of park visitors used masks (24.4% properly, 14.6% improperly). Females (p = 0.023), adults (p = 0.025), and seniors (p = 0.006) showed higher rates of proper mask use compared to males and younger visitors. Physical and social activity were not significantly associated with proper mask use.

CONCLUSION

There is a need for improved messaging regarding the proper use of masks among males and younger people. This is particularly important for future surges of new COVID-19 variants or other public health crises similar to COVID-19. Future research should focus on developing and evaluating targeted public health messages regarding mask use.