Assessing the role of collectivism and individualism on COVID-19 beliefs and behaviors in the Southeastern United States

Abstract

America’s unique response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has been both criticized and applauded across political and social spectrums. Compared to other developed nations, U.S. incidence and mortality rates were exceptionally high, due in part to inconsistent policies across local, state, and federal agencies regarding preventive behaviors like mask wearing and social distancing. Furthermore, vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy theories around COVID-19 and vaccine safety have proliferated widely, making herd immunity that much more challenging. What factors of the U.S. culture have contributed to the significant impact of the pandemic? Why have we not responded better to the challenges of COVID-19? Or would many people in the U.S. claim that we have responded perfectly well? To explore these questions, we conducted a qualitative and quantitative study of Florida State University faculty, staff, and students. This study measured their perceptions of the pandemic, their behaviors tied to safety and community, and how these practices were tied to beliefs of individualism and collectivism. We found that collectivist orientations were associated with a greater likelihood of wearing masks consistently, severe interruptions of one’s social life caused by the pandemic, greater concern for infecting others, and higher levels of trust in medical professionals for behavioral guidelines surrounding the pandemic. These associations largely persist even after adjusting for political affiliation, which we find is also a strong predictor of COVID-19 beliefs and behaviors.

Exploring the Barriers and Facilitators of Mask-Wearing Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan, the United States, the Netherlands, and Haiti: A Qualitative Study

“…Previous quantitative research has identified a link between collectivism and mask-wearing behavior. [32][33][34][35] A study by Lu et al (2021) using Hofstede's index 36 found that mask usage was more prevalent in countries characterized by higher levels of collectivism, such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore. 32 Although previous quantitative studies have highlighted differences in mask-wearing behavior between Western and Asian countries, there is a notable absence of research on the factors that influence mask-wearing behaviors across a range of cultural contexts while also considering the social-ecological perspective.…”