War Against COVID‐19: How Is National Identification Linked With the Adoption of Disease‐Preventive Behaviors in China and the United States?

Abstract

Fighting the COVID‐19 pandemic requires large numbers of citizens to adopt disease‐preventive practices. We contend that national identification can mobilize and motivate people to engage in preventive behaviors to protect the collective, which in return would heighten national identification further. To test these reciprocal links, we conducted studies in two countries with diverse national tactics toward curbing the pandemic: (1) a two‐wave longitudinal survey in China (Study 1, N = 1200), where a national goal to fight COVID‐19 was clearly set, and (2) a five‐wave longitudinal survey in the United States (Study 2, N = 1001), where the national leader, President Trump, rejected the severity of COVID‐19 in its early stage. Results revealed that national identification was associated with an increase in disease‐preventive behaviors in both countries in general. However, higher national identification was associated with greater trust in Trump's administration among politically conservative American participants, which then was associated with slower adoption of preventive behaviors. The reciprocal effect of disease‐preventive behaviors on national identification was observed only in China. Overall, our findings suggest that although national identification may serve as a protective factor in curbing the pandemic, this beneficial effect was reduced in some political contexts. Highlights Policymakers should note that national identity serves as a protective factor in curbing the COVID‐19 pandemic. Narratives that highlight the collective agency of people would be useful in promoting disease‐preventive actions as long as they are also endorsed by national leaders. National leaders should provide clear and consistent recommendations in promoting disease‐preventive actions. Practitioners and policymakers should be aware of how the communication strategies they use would be affected by society’s political contexts. Mobilizing disease‐preventive actions through a patriotic frame might not be useful when national leaders did not unambiguously promote disease prevention.

Not “My” crisis: Social identity and followers’ crisis responses to COVID‐19

“…We conducted a three‐wave longitudinal study, with data collection taken place in late March (Wave 1; N = 1001), late May (Wave 2; N = 511), and early October 2020 (Wave 3; N = 475). Wave 1 and Wave 2 data belong to a larger project that aims to track the rapid change in Americans’ and Chinese’ response to the COVID‐19 pandemic (see Chan, Wang, et al., 2021 and Appendix B for data transparency table). In total, 359 participants completed all three surveys, with an attrition rate of 31.31% from Wave 2 to Wave 3.…”

“…COVID‐19 Preventive Behavior . We adopted Chan, Wang, et al. 's (2021) measure of COVID‐19 Preventive Behavior (α ranged from .83 to .91).…”

Double standards in the COVID‐19 pandemic: The moderation of perceived threat

“…Self‐quarantine refers to the separation of people who have been exposed to or infected by infectious diseases (Hellewell et al., 2020; Parmet & Sinha, 2020). Preventive behaviours refer to the behaviours that can minimize the risk of COVID‐19, such as washing hands frequently, maintaining a social distance, and practising respiratory hygiene (Chan et al., 2021). It is estimated that self‐quarantine rules have averted 44–96% of incident cases in the COVID‐19 pandemic (Nussbaumer‐Streit et al., 2020).…”

Two-Tailed Dogs, Social Unrest and COVID-19 Vaccination: Politics, Hesitancy and Vaccine Choice in Hungary and Thailand

“…Political rhetoric influences public action via social identification [ 67 ]. National leaders need to provide clear and consistent recommendations [ 27 ]. Culturally specific rhetoric is likely to have an important impact on the measures used to manage a pandemic, including vaccination drives.…”

“…Social identities, people’s “sense of selfhood defined by their group memberships” [ 24 ] (p. 202), provide a framework for meaning and actions during a pandemic, including their willingness to undertake vaccination [ 25 ]. While common, national and shared identities may emerge early on in a crisis and encourage disease-preventive behaviours [ 26 ], polarisation can soon emerge [ 24 ], with political factors having different impacts in different cultures [ 27 ]. Relatedly, terror management theory suggests that, when mortality threat is high, first, people seek to consciously deny or avoid the threat or ameliorate this through appropriate preventive behaviours (e.g., handwashing).…”