Identification with all humanity and willingness to help people in COVID-19 affected countries: Testing a moderated mediation model

Can science fiction engagement predict identification with all humanity? Testing a moderated mediation model

“…Participants were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that one-factor model fit with the current data satisfactorily (χ 2 = 122.342, df = 27, χ 2 /df = 4.531, CFI = 0.943, TLI = 0.923, RMSEA = 0.079,SRMR = 0.041), which is consistent with a previous study conducted in China (Deng, 2021). Thus, we averaged the 9 items to index people's identification with all humanity, and the reliability was satisfactory (Cronbach's α = 0.86).…”

“…Empirically, IWAH was found to be positively associated with concern for humanitarian needs, globalism, and intergroup forgiveness ( McFarland et al, 2012 ; Hamer et al, 2018 ), and negatively associated with intergroup dehumanization, and ethnocentrism ( McFarland et al, 2019 ). Moreover, people with higher IWAH are more likely to engage in globally responsible behaviors, such as supporting international charities, fighting against global inequality, and health and prosocial behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Reese et al, 2012 ; McFarland, 2017 ; Barragan et al, 2021 ; Deng, 2021 ; Marchlewska et al, 2022 ).…”

So Far, So Close: Identification with Proximal and Distal Groups as a Resource in Dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Specifically, this inclusive identification motivated prosocial behaviors toward all people in need and the elderly during the lockdown. This result confirms the consistent and powerful role of identification with all humanity in predicting cooperative and helpful behaviors toward other human beings during the pandemic [ 54 ], especially on behalf of vulnerable groups [ 55 ], even should they happen to live abroad [ 56 ].…”

Does Activating the Human Identity Improve Health-Related Behaviors During COVID-19?: A Social Identity Approach

“…Much research taking a social identity approach has demonstrated that social identification has both correlational and causal effects on personal, health-related behaviors (for reviews, see Haslam et al, 2009 ; Jetten et al, 2017 ), including in the context of COVID-19 ( Van Bavel and Boggio, 2020 ). Additionally, new research consistently demonstrates an association between identification with broader, more inclusive groups (e.g., all of humanity, global citizens) and personal behaviors that benefit and protect fellow humans from COVID-19 ( Barragan et al, 2021 ; Deng, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ). Moreover, there is some preliminary support for theoretically grounded approaches that outline the unique social identification processes relevant for identification with humanity and COVID-19 (e.g., Reese et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Moreover, the human identity (as opposed to the individual or social identity) is arguably the least researched level of abstraction in the social identity approach (e.g., see Wohl and Branscombe, 2005 ; for an updated review, see McFarland et al, 2019 ). Thus far, only a few studies have demonstrated that identification with all humanity (or global identification) uniquely predicts personal, health-related behaviors that reduce the spread of COVID-19 ( Barragan et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; for helping behaviors during COVID-19, see Deng, 2021 ; Zagefka, 2021 ). However, these studies thus far have taken a correlational approach, operationalizing identification with all humanity as an individual difference measure rather than a social identity that is situationally activated.…”