Application of protection motivation theory and cultural tightness-looseness for predicting individuals' compliance with the government's recommended preventive measures during regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Introduction: In the period of regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public must continue to comply with the government's recommended preventive measures to further curb the pandemic. Based on the theories of protection motivation and cultural tightness-looseness, this study investigates individuals' compliance with the government's recommended preventive measures during this period in China. It also establishes a moderated mediation model to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods: We used structural equation modeling and latent model structural equations to analyze data from an online survey of 443 participants. Results: The analysis showed that media exposure significantly predicted perceived severity, maladaptive rewards, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and response cost. Perceived severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy were positively associated with protection motivation, which, in turn, was positively associated with individuals' compliance. Additionally, protection motivation positively affected individuals' compliance via implementation intention, and perceived cultural tightness-looseness significantly moderated the association between protection motivation and implementation intention. Discussion: This study helps to better understand individuals' compliance from a theoretical perspective and provide practical advice on promoting individuals' compliance with the government's precautionary measures.

An Integrative Analysis: What Cultural Factors Protect Us Against the COVID-19 Indeed?

The outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic has been for more than two years around the world, as well as there were substantial regional differences in the infection cases and deaths per million. Plenty of studies in psychology and behavioral science in the past two years showed that cultural factors might influence individual cognitions and behaviors, and then change collective responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic. However, few studies are conducted to discern the effects of these cultural factors on the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic situation simultaneously and identify what cultural variables are valid indeed for us preventing Covid-19. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the effects of the major cultural variables together, e.g., individualism-collectivism, tightness-looseness, authoritarianism, emancipative moral judgments, and national identity, on the epidemic situations during the several stages of the Pandemic. The results suggested that, in the early stages of the epidemic, the countries with higher parochialism had fewer cases and deaths per million;meanwhile the countries with higher uncertainty avoidance had more cases and deaths per million. Across the whole epidemic periods so far, the countries with tighter cultures had fewer cases and deaths per million, as well as more individual autonomy countries, had higher deaths per million. The integrative analysis of the multiple cultural factors in the present study provided theoretical insights and empirical evidence for a better understanding of how culture affects individual and collective responses to the Pandemic, making efficient policies for Covid-19 control, and coping with potential epidemics in the future. © 2022 IEEE.

Perception of strong social norms during the COVID-19 pandemic is linked to positive psychological outcomes.

Social norms can coordinate individuals and groups during collective threats. Pandemic-related social norms (e.g., wearing masks, social distancing) emerged to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, little is known about the psychological consequences of the emerging norms. We conducted three experiments cross-culturally, during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic in China (Study 1), the recovery period in China (Study 2), and the severe period in the United States and Canada (Study 3). Across the three studies, we first distinguished the opposite effects of social norms and risk perception on individuals' psychological characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic and further revealed that individuals who perceived stronger pandemic norms reported a lower level of COVID-19 risk perception, which in turn would be associated with fewer negative emotions, lower pressure, more positive emotions, higher levels of trusts, and more confidence in fighting against COVID-19. Our findings show that perceived tighter social norms are linked to beneficial psychological outcomes. This research helps governments, institutions, and individuals understand the mechanism and benefits of social norms during the pandemic, thereby facilitating policy formulation and better responses to social crises.

The Mediational Role of Desire for Cultural Tightness on Concern With COVID-19 and Perceived Self-Control.

When ecological threats are more severe or prevalent, societies are more likely to tighten their social norms and punishments. Moreover, when people follow clear and tight rules, they are more prone to regulate their behavior (i.e., self-control) in order to avoid punishment. Therefore, we examined the mediating role of people's endorsement of cultural tightness (i.e., support and desire) on the relationship between concern with COVID-19 threat and personal self-control. Our hypothesis was tested through a mediation model in two studies with a sample of (N=315, 77.1% females, M age=23.71) university students (Study 1) and with a heterogeneous sample of (N=239, 65.7% females, M age=36.55) participants (Study 2). Empirical support for the proposed model was found in both studies. Implications of this research will be discussed. The main implication is related to the possibility that people's desire for strong norms to cope with the COVID-19 threat could promote greater self-regulated preventive behavior in order to protect their health.