An Experimental Investigation into the Influence of Illness-Related Emotions on Indicators of Conformity

ABSTRACT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis which has produced significant psychological fear in individuals. Fear, a survival-related emotion studied in evolutionary psychology, leads people to place importance on conformity to group norms in terms of attitudes and behaviours, leading to better odds of survival. This study strives to explore the relationship between Illness- related emotions and the indicators of conformity. Methodology: The study employed an experimental design. Participants in the experimental group were primed by arousing disease-related threat in them, whereas the control group was not primed. Participants' tendency to endorse conformity in hypothetical situations were examined with the help of four measures- three choice-based tasks and one self-report questionnaire. Results: The research findings revealed that illness-related fear/anxiety has an impact on behavioural conformity with the majority opinion, but this impact was not significant on other three dependent measures of conformity- Valuation of Obedience, Self- reported Conformist attitudes and Liking for people with Conformist Traits. Conclusion: The study has implications in understanding the antecedent of conformity and the psychology of threat in the collectivistic culture of India, especially in the face of a pandemic.