Towards the Challenges of Cross-Cultural Research: Experience on COVID-19 Project

Anthropologists and psychologists engaged in cross-cultural research face numerous methodological challenges. These studies aim to identify universal behavioral traits across all populations on Earth, as well as culturally specific features. This article attempts to describe and comprehend the main problems that researchers encounter while carrying out such projects, using specific examples from the author's field practice. The primary example is data from a large-scale cross-cultural project that studied anxious, aggressive, and empathic behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in 23 countries worldwide. Existing experience in cross-cultural research demonstrates how various terms and concepts transform under the influence of globalization processes. On the one hand, cultural bound-aries become less defined, while on the other hand, the desire for self-identity strengthens. Familiar biological and social constructs such as sex or marital status are modified and require new under-standing and analysis. Thanks to the methods of social anthropology and the anthropological approach to humans as biosocial beings, the data obtained can be interpreted, taking into account the cultural specifics and behavioral norms of each society.

Anxiety and Aggression During COVID-19: On Example of Four Regions of Russia

Social isolation, quarantine, loneliness as a result of the imposed restrictions, economic problems, led to physical and psychological problems in different populations. Studies are being conducted across countries on the effects of stress from the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to find factors that will help people adapt more easily to new environmental conditions and cope less anxiously with their trials. This article presents the results of a study of regional differences in the level of anxiety and aggression during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, depending on the measures taken in each region, using the example of Moscow, the Rostov region, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Data was collected for the period from April 29 to June 21, 2020. In total, 1903 people were interviewed (232 people from Moscow, 362 people from Tatarstan, 1023 people from the Rostov region, 286 people from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug). The results of the study show that the residents of Moscow and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug were the most anxious during the first wave of COVID-19, and that the residents of the Rostov region were the least stressed. An important factor influencing the level of aggressiveness during COVID-19 was the level of trust in official information. The most distrustful of official sources were residents of the Rostov region and Moscow. The most aggressive in relation to information coming from official sources were respondents from Moscow;the least aggressive were residents of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In all regions, the level of anxiety and aggression was higher among those respondents who believed that the measures taken by the authorities against the spread of COVID-19 were insufficient. These data can be used as an additional source of information for taking effective measures to overcome the pandemic at the present time.

Empathy and cooperation until and during COVID-19 (based on research of Moscow students)

The article presents the results of researches conducted on samples of students in Moscow before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first sample is represented by data before COVID-19 and during the first year of the pandemic (148 people;2019-2020). The second sample is pandemic data obtained during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (1344 people;2020-2021). The purpose of this study is to assess changes in the level of empathy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to trace the dynamics of empathic behavior during the three waves of COVID-19 among students in Moscow An analysis of the data obtained significant changes in students' empathy before and during the pandemic according to the Boyko empathic abilities questionnaire: the level of empathy decreased during the pandemic year, the most significant changes obtained on the scales of the intuitive channel of empathy and identification in empathy. Comparison of data on three waves of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index questionnaire revealed dynamics of empathy depending on the sex of the respondents: scores on all scales of empathy were higher for women than for men;men showed an increase in empathy scores from the first to the third wave, while women's scores peaked maximum in the second wave, and then decreased. These differences appear to indicate that women are more likely to "burn out" in a stressful situation than men and are also more responsive to reduced restrictions in the context of COVID-19, which influences in empathic behavior. These results obtained the need to take into account various factors that influence people's behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (sex, age, volunteer and epidemiological experiences, individual characteristics, personal ability to adapt to long-term stress).

Social distancing as altruism in the context of the coronavirus pandemic: A cross-cultural study

11 March 2020. COVID-19 is declared a pandemic. The era of “social distance” has come, characterized as minimizing contacts between people and maintaining the one-to-two meter distance between individuals. Reduction of interpersonal contacts and increased social distance are part of behavioural adaptation to epidemics in the human evolution. In this article we consider social distance as an act of altruism toward fellow citizens. The society found itself facing a moral dilemma – COVID-19 poses little risk to healthy persons, while social distance and isolation impose limits on everyone. The benefits of keeping precautionary measures in place are vital for the groups most at risk, and the community as a whole benefits greatly by reducing the likelihood of a large-scale outbreak. This study was conducted among Russian-speaking respondents living or staying in various countries, as well as in Russia, at the time of the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus. We used a set of methods: semi-structured in-depth interview, questionnaires, the “snowball” method, photographing elements of people’s behaviour during the pandemic, as well as content analysis of news stories in the media. A total of 371 profiles (48 men and 323 women) from 33 countries were collected. Our data show that individual behaviour in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is influenced by factors such as country of residence, sex, level of stress, trust in authorities, awareness of the prescribed rules of behaviour, cultural norms, and traditions. Moreover, these factors affect both the perception of the situation and the implementation of the authorities’ recommendations. © 2020 Tomsk State University. All rights reserved.