The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic elicits a vast amount of anxiety. In the current study, we investigated how anxiety related to COVID-19 is associated with support for and compliance with governmental hygiene measures, and how these are influenced by populist attitudes, anger at the government, and conspiracy mentalities. We conducted an online survey in April 2020 in four different countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK; N = 2,031) using a cross-sectional design. Results showed that (1) anxiety related to COVID-19 is associated with conspiracy beliefs, anger at the government, and populist attitudes, and (2) support for and compliance with hygiene measures are both positively predicted by anxiety related to COVID-19; however, (3) support for hygiene measures is also predicted by populist attitudes and negatively by conspiracy mentalities, whereas compliance with hygiene measures is more strongly predicted by anger at transgressors (anger at people transgressing the hygiene measures). Consequently, although anxiety related to COVID-19 concerns the health of individual people, it also has political and social implications: anxiety is associated with an increase in anger, either at transgressors or the government.

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Psychology and neuroscience research have shown that fractioning operations between several individuals along a hierarchical chain allows diffusing responsibility between components of the chain, which has the potential to disinhibit antisocial actions. Here, we present two studies, one using fMRI (Study 1) and one using EEG (Study 2), designed to help understand how commanding or being in an intermediary position impacts the sense of agency and empathy for pain. In the age of military drones, we also explored whether commanding a human or robot agent influences these measures. This was done within a single behavioral paradigm in which participants could freely decide whether or not to send painful shocks to another participant in exchange for money. In Study 1, fMRI reveals that activation in social cognition and empathy-related brain regions was equally low when witnessing a victim receive a painful shock while participants were either commander or simple intermediary transmitting an order, compared to being the agent directly delivering the shock. In Study 2, results indicated that the sense of agency did not differ between commanders and intermediary, no matter if the executing agent was a robot or a human. However, we observed that the neural response over P3 was higher when the executing agent was a robot compared to a human. Source reconstruction of the EEG signal revealed that this effect was mediated by areas including the insula and ACC. Results are discussed regarding the interplay between the sense of agency and empathy for pain for decision-making. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT.In hierarchical situations, one person decides and orders, and another person executes. In the present study, we use MRI and EEG in order to investigate the neuro-cognitive processes altered in hierarchical chains in order to explain how being in the position of commander or in the position of intermediary impacts moral behaviors. Results showed that in the two positions, empathy for the pain of others is altered compared to being the agent directly delivering the shock. The sense of agency does not differ between commanders and intermediaries. These results show how powerful hierarchical situations can facilitate the commission of actions that harm others, as agency and empathy are split across multiple individuals.

The current COVID-19 pandemic elicits a vast amount of collective anxiety, which may also have broader societal and political implications. In the current study, we investigate the individual and social impact of this anxiety. We conducted an online survey in four different countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK; N=2031), examining whether anxiety about the Coronavirus leads to more approval of and compliance with hygiene measures deployed in those countries, and what role political beliefs play at this. We found significant differences between the four countries, with Spain marking highest anxiety as well as approval of and compliance with hygiene measures. Furthermore, three linear regressions showed that one’s anxiety is not only predicted by proximity to sources of infection (age, country, oneself or friends being infected), but also by political views (populist attitudes, anger at the government). Importantly, people who are anxious are also angry, at transgressors of hygiene rules or at their government. Thus, anger does not reduce one’s fear, but fear leads to more anger, especially in countries with the highest infection rates. Anxiety also leads to more approval of and compliance with hygiene measures, but again anger and political beliefs play a role in this relation. Whereas behavioral compliance is more predicted by fear and anger at others who transgress the rules, approval of the measures is better predicted by anxiety about the impact of Coronavirus and anger at the government.

History has shown that fractioning operations between several individuals along a hierarchical chain allows diffusing responsibility between components of the chain, which has the potential to disinhibit antisocial actions. Here, we present two studies, one using fMRI (Study 1) and one using EEG (Study 2), designed to help understand how commanding or being in an intermediary position impacts the sense of agency and empathy for pain. In the age of military drones, we also explored whether commanding a human or robot agent influences these measures. This was done within a single behavioral paradigm in which participants could freely decide whether or not to send painful shocks to another participant in exchange for money. In Study 1, fMRI reveals that activation in social cognition and empathy-related brain regions was equally low when witnessing a victim receive a painful shock while participants were either commander or simple intermediary transmitting an order, compared to being the agent directly delivering the shock. In Study 2, results indicated that the sense of agency did not differ between commanders and intermediary, no matter if the executing agent was a robot or a human. However, we observed that the neural response over P3 was higher when the executing agent was a robot compared to a human. Source reconstruction of the EEG signal revealed that this effect was mediated by areas including the insula and ACC. Results are discussed regarding the interplay between the sense of agency and empathy for pain for decision-making.