A time for moral actions: Moral identity, morality-as-cooperation and moral circles predict support of collective action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in an international sample

Understanding what factors are linked to public health behavior in a global pandemic is critical to mobilizing an effective public health response. Although public policy and health messages are often framed through the lens of individual benefit, many of the behavioral strategies needed to combat a pandemic require individual sacrifices to benefit the collective welfare. Therefore, we examined the relationship between individuals' morality and their support for public health measures. In a large-scale study with samples from 68 countries worldwide (Study 1;N = 46,576), we found robust evidence that moral identity, morality-as-cooperation, and moral circles are each positively related to people's willingness to engage in public health behaviors and policy support. Together, these moral dispositions accounted for 9.8%, 10.2%, and 6.2% of support for limiting contact, improving hygiene, and supporting policy change, respectively. These morality variables (Study 2) and Schwartz's values dimensions (Study 3) were also associated with behavioral responses across 42 countries in the form of reduced physical mobility during the pandemic. These results suggest that morality may help mobilize citizens to support public health policy. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Doing good or looking good: how socially responsible human resource management practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance

PurposeThis study examines whether, how and when socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) practices increase employees' in-role and extra-role corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 422 employees of 68 companies.FindingsSRHRM improves employees' in-role CSR-specific performance via impression management motivation and enhance extra-role CSR-specific performance via prosocial motivation. Moral identity symbolization strengthens the relationship between SRHRM and impression management motivation, and moral identity internalization reinforces the relationship between SRHRM and prosocial motivation. The authors also propose mediated moderation models.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that company can adopt SRHRM practices to improve employees' in-role and extra-role CSR-specific performance.Originality/valueThis study reveals how and when SRHRM practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance and sheds light on the social impacts of SRHRM.

Should I Help? Prosocial Behaviour during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Movement Control Order (MCO) enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered the social life and behaviour of the Malaysian population. Because the society is facing huge social and economic challenges that need individuals to work together to solve, prosocial behaviour is regarded as one of the most important social determinants. Because it is related with individual and societal benefits, participating in prosocial activities may be a major protective factor during times of global crisis. Rather than focusing only on medical and psychiatric paradigms, perhaps all that is necessary to overcome the COVID-19 risks is for individuals to make personal sacrifices for the sake of others. In reality, a large number of initiatives proven to be beneficial in decreasing viral transmission include a trade-off between individual and collective interests. Given its crucial importance, the purpose of this concept paper is to provide some insight into prosocial behaviour during the COVID-19 period. Understanding prosocial behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial because it may assist in the establishment of a post-COVID society and provide useful strategies for coping with future crises.

Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour.

The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.

Pandemic perspectives from the frontline-The nursing stories.

AIM: To describe the experiences of registered nurses working in a US healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: This qualitative thematic analysis study is a secondary analysis of stories submitted by nurses to a repository established by the parent study. METHODS: Registered nurses working in various roles in a healthcare system submitted stories (N = 45) to open-ended prompts via an online repository between June 2020 and February 2021. A team of three nurse scientists coded the stories using Dedoose software. Initial codes were then reviewed by the team to synthesize initial coding into themes. The COREQ checklist was used to ensure research reporting guidelines were met. RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed three themes in a global theme of COVID-19 pandemic-related personal and professional evolution: (1) The art and science of pandemic nursing, (2) Persisting despite challenges; and (3) Learning as we went. Each of the three organizing themes were supported by basic themes. CONCLUSIONS: Identified themes affirm some of nursing's long-standing core values, such as the central role of human connectedness in restoring health, but findings also reflect new evolutionary processes of moral identity formation that occurred among nurses and the nursing profession during the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPACT: Findings from this study describe the processes by which nurses' moral identity evolved during a segment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collectively, these evolutions represent important shifts in the nursing profession. Using findings from this study, nurse educators, nurse managers and healthcare administrators will be able to implement effective, sustainable policies and processes that meet the needs of both the community and the workforce. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study was designed to capture the experiences of nurses employed by one healthcare organization. However, it was not conducted using input or suggestions from the public or the patient population served by the organization.

ETHIC MODELS SHAPING (IM)MORAL IDENTITY IN (POST)PANDEMIC TIMES: A PROPOSAL FOR A LONGITUDINAL STUDY PROTOCOL

Moral identity-defined as “a self-conception organized around a set of moral traits”-is strongly linked to moral behavior. Recent theoretical approaches showed that moral identity-the same as social identity-may be influenced both by individual differences and situational factors. In the context of the current global pandemic, several social and moral identities emerged and will continue to develop as the situation unfolds, with consequences on peoples’ moral decisions and actions. Children and adolescents may be especially vulnerable to negative consequences, who may be affected by numerous situational factors such as the emerging of polarisation concerning following rules, and it is yet unclear how this affects children and adolescents’ mental health and morality, both in the short and long term. Others’ behaviors and opinions may hold a strong effect on adolescents’ moral development, and this influence may be especially salient in the case of significant others (i.e., parents, family, peers) who have the role of ethic models in adolescents’ life. Therefore, we propose a theoretical protocol for a longitudinal study, exploring the long-term effects of others’ perceived moral identity on adolescents’ moral identity development, hypothesizing that the perception of the moral identity of ethical models is a predictor for change over time in adolescents’ moral self-identity. Longitudinal designs are widely used in literature to explore the role of both individual differences and situational factors on specific outcomes, for this reason, we propose a latent growth model, exploring the individual change in adolescents’ moral identity, in three different time points, measured every year, in the (post)pandemic context. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

Prosociality and hoarding amid the COVID-19 pandemic: A tale of four countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis that poses a challenge to humanity. Drawing on the stress and coping literature, we argue that people around the world alleviate their anxiety and stress induced by the pandemic through both prosocial and 'self-interested' hoarding behaviours. This cross-cultural survey study examined the pushing (threat perception) and pulling (moral identity) factors that predicted prosocial acts and hoarding, and subsequently psychological well-being. Data were collected from 9 April to 14 May 2020 from 251 participants in the United Kingdom (UK), 268 in the United States (US), 197 in Germany (DE), and 200 in Hong Kong (HK). Whereas threat perception was associated positively with both prosocial acts and hoarding, benevolent moral identity was associated positively with the former but not the latter behaviour. We also observed cross-cultural differences, such that both effects were stronger in more individualistic (UK, US) countries than less individualistic (HK, DE) ones. The findings shed light on the prosocial vs. self-interested behavioural responses of people in different cultures towards the same pandemic crisis.

Prevention for oneself or others? Psychological and social factors that explain social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Identifying the underlying psychological and social factors of social distancing is crucial to foster preventive behavior during a pandemic effectively. We investigated the relative contribution of self-focused factors (fear of infection, fear of punishment) and other-focused factors (moral judgment, moral identity, empathy for unspecific others, empathy for loved ones) in an online study in Germany (N = 246) while COVID-19 was climaxing. Importantly, other-oriented factors were related to social distancing behavior beyond self-oriented factors. Moral judgment and empathy for loved ones remained the dominant factors while controlling for all aspects. These findings underline the relevance of interpersonal considerations when engaging in preventive behavior.