Dark- and bright-side reactions to government advice about Covid-19, and a test of a method to moderate such reactions

Collectivism, individualism and COVID-19 prevention: a cross sectional study of personality, culture and behavior among Canadians

Background

Collectivism has been identified as a protective factor against COVID-19 - perhaps due to increased conformity with social norms regarding prevention behaviors. Other studies have also found that individualism can inspire uptake of preventative behaviors as a means of personal protection. It is possible that these cultural orientations may promote different patterns of prevention (e.g. mask wearing vs. social distancing). Furthermore, existing studies examining the role of individualism and collectivism during the COVID-19 pandemic have frequently failed to account for other psychological processes, including differences in personality, which could help provide a better understanding of the psychological process underlying prevention behavior.

Methods

Participants were recruited using social media advertisements. The Cultural Orientations Scale measured individualism-collectivism and hierarchism-egalitarianism. The Ten Item Personality Inventory measured the five factor model of personality. Multivariable models, dominance analyses and structural equation mediation tests were used to identify the most important predictors of COVID-19 prevention behavior (i.e. mask-wearing, hand-washing, reducing social interactions, physical distancing, staying at home and social bubbling), controlling for demographic and situational factors.

Results

Among 774 participants, most (i.e. 60-80%) reported uptake of COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Higher vertical (hierarchical) collectivism was associated with staying at home and higher horizontal (egalitarian) individualism was associated with mask-wearing and reducing social interactions. Neither Vertical Collectivism nor Horizontal Collectivism were significantly associated with any of the prevention behaviors when controlling for personality traits and confounding variables. Agreeableness was identified as a key mediator of the correlation between these cultural orientations on general uptake of COVID-19 prevention behaviors.

Conclusions

Cultural orientations (e.g. collectivism-individualism, hierarchism-egalitarianism) and personality traits (e.g. Agreeableness) are salient correlates of COVID-19 prevention behaviors and therefore should be accounted for in the development, design and delivery of health promotion messages aiming to increase uptake of these behaviors.

Light and Dark core of personality and the adherence to COVID-19 containment measures: The roles of motivation and trust in government

The present study investigated the relationship between the Light and Dark Core of personality and self-reported adherence to COVID-19 containment measures. A gender-balanced representative sample of 600 Slovaks participated in the study. We formulated a mediation model, hypothesising that the relationship between Light and Dark Core and self-reported adherence is mediated by the motivation to comply with the measures. The results of structural equation modelling showed that self-reported adherence was positively related to the Light Core and this relationship was also mediated by motivation. The Dark Core, in turn, showed a negative relationship with the adherence, while no mediation was found. Importantly, the findings of both Light and Dark Core models remained robust after including trust in government. The present study contributes to theory by providing first results corroborating the existence of Light Core of personality. The findings of this study can also help to better shape the communications about containment measures to address both individuals with high levels of benevolent and malevolent traits.