Who prioritizes the economy over health? The role of political orientation and human values

Do left-wingers discriminate? A cross-country study on the links between political orientation, values, moral foundations, and the Covid-19 passport

To increase Covid-19 vaccine uptake and protect vulnerable people, many countries have introduced a Covid-19 passport in 2021, allowing vaccinated individuals to access indoor facilities more freely and travel to foreign countries. However, the passport has had unintended consequences as it discriminates against those who do not want to get vaccinated for medical, religious, or political reasons, or those who do not have access to vaccines. The present study (N = 678) assessed across Brazil, UK, USA, and a group of other countries, the links between political orientation, human values, and moral foundations, and attitudes towards the Covid-19 passport and whether people perceive it as a discriminatory measure. Results showed that left-wingers, typically more inclined to recognize discrimination, favor the passport more and perceive it as less discriminatory than right-wingers. This pattern remains consistent even after controlling for human values and moral foundations, independently predicting attitudes towards the passport. Overall, our findings provide novel insights into a context in which left-wingers support measures that involuntarily discriminate against certain groups.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04554-9.

How can human values influence work engagement among teachers? an exploratory study

Human values provide essential insights into how personal characteristics can help build a more positive work environment within an educational context, impacting variables such as organizational commitment and satisfaction with university life. However, it is still unknown to what extent values can help to influence the teachers’ level of work engagement. That is, whether specific values can lead people to present a higher motivation at work. Therefore, we conducted one study (N = 345; Mage = 36.45, SDage = 10.33) to assess teachers’ associations between human values and work engagement. We used the Basic Values Survey and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. To evaluate the data, we checked the associations between the variables using Pearson’s correlations and whether human values could significantly predict work engagement using hierarchical regressions. Our results showed that all values significantly correlate to the work engagement dimensions. However, only interactive values (e.g., affectivity, belonging, support), characterized by the motivation to develop and maintain relationships with others, significantly predicted work engagement. Such findings highlight the importance of an environment that allows the development and maintenance of relationships between teachers and their peers and students, favoring a more excellent state of mind towards their work and enhancing their motivation to do their job. We are confident that our research brings novelty to the literature on work engagement, providing the first assessment of human values’ impact on teachers’ motivation towards work.

Trust in COVID-19 public health information

Understanding the factors that influence trust in public health information is critical for designing successful public health campaigns during pandemics such as COVID-19. We present findings from a cross-sectional survey of 454 US adults-243 older (65+) and 211 younger (18-64) adults-who responded to questionnaires on human values, trust in COVID-19 information sources, attention to information quality, self-efficacy, and factual knowledge about COVID-19. Path analysis showed that trust in direct personal contacts (B = 0.071, p = .04) and attention to information quality (B = 0.251, p < .001) were positively related to self-efficacy for coping with COVID-19. The human value of self-transcendence, which emphasizes valuing others as equals and being concerned with their welfare, had significant positive indirect effects on self-efficacy in coping with COVID-19 (mediated by attention to information quality; effect = 0.049, 95% CI 0.001-0.104) and factual knowledge about COVID-19 (also mediated by attention to information quality; effect = 0.037, 95% CI 0.003-0.089). Our path model offers guidance for fine-tuning strategies for effective public health messaging and serves as a basis for further research to better understand the societal impact of COVID-19 and other public health crises.

Your money or your life? Public support for health initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic

While many Australians agree with the need for COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, a vocal minority of citizens loudly voice opposition to government restrictions, characterised as impositions on 'free speech' and impacting the Australian economy. National data from the 2020/21 Australian Survey of Social and Attitudes and Tasmanian survey data enable an examination of those who support or oppose health initiatives aimed at minimising the impact of the pandemic. The majority of Australians believed government imposed restrictions were 'about right', although women were more likely than men to be concerned about the health implications of COVID-19. Tasmanian data show that controlling for social background, those who prioritise the economy are less likely than those concerned about the health implications of COVID-19 to wear masks in public, less likely to be tested in case they have to self-isolate, less likely to check in, and less likely to be vaccinated. Alternatively, higher trust in university research, and trust in scientists as a source of information about COVID-19 was positively associated with attitudes and behaviour designed to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

The dark side of Brazil: Effects of dark traits on general COVID-19 worry and responses against the pandemic

Brazil is one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 563,470 deaths until August 9th, 2021). Since the Brazilian government is partly struggling and partly unwilling to control the pandemic, staying healthy falls almost exclusively to the population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the predictive role of personality traits to explain the willingness to combat the COVID-19 virus. In the present study (N = 496), we investigated the Dark Pentad traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, and spitefulness. Our findings revealed that the first four traits were consistently negatively associated with various measures that indicate whether the pandemic is taken seriously, such as the perceived severity of COVID-19 and intentions to act against COVID-19. Structural equation modeling further showed that general COVID-19 worry mediated the link between the Dark Pentad and adaptive and maladaptive responses. Our results indicate that all dark traits are associated with unsocial behaviors, but their relative importance varies depending on the outcome variable.