Written by The coronavirus pandemic taught us many things about human nature.
We are a social people. Toilet paper is important. And many people hate covering their face.
It also showed us that the way different countries dealt with the pandemic proved more or less effective and largely dependent upon compliance from the population.
New research aimed to explore attitudes towards health compliance and psychological responses within the context of cultural frameworks of individualism and collectivism.
Cultural Orientation
The findings, based on data from Chinese university students, revealed that cultural orientations significantly predicted attitudes toward compliance and psychological responses.
The study found a high overall endorsement of restrictive measures.
Compared to Japanese and American counterparts, Chinese participants exhibited the highest acceptance of society-level preventive measures.
This strong compliance with social distancing can be attributed to the strict isolation measures implemented by the Chinese government.
However, despite behavioral compliance, participants might have had personal reservations about individual-level precautions, such as wearing gloves when shopping or disclosing travel history.
Predictors of Compliance
Several predictors shed light on Chinese participants’ attitudes toward compliance.
Gender was one such predictor, with female students demonstrating a greater willingness to comply than males.
Additionally, cultural orientations at the individual level played a significant role.
Vertical collectivism (VC) predicted positive attitudes towards compliance, as it fostered a strong group identity and respect for authority.
Horizontal collectivism (HC), while promoting in-group commitment, did not lead to the same level of acceptance of preventive measures.
Individualistic orientations had mixed effects, with horizontal individualism (HI) positively predicting compliance and vertical individualism (VI) predicting less favorable attitudes toward compliance.
Contrary to previous research on epidemics, the study found that concerns about the virus did not notably predict positive attitudes toward compliance.
Instead, psychological distress was positively predicted by VI and VC, indicating that those who valued uniqueness and competition or strong group identity experienced more negative psychological effects.
In contrast, HC predicted less psychological distress, suggesting that individuals emphasizing equal responsibility within their in-group experienced fewer mental health problems.
Chinese college students were more willing to comply with preventive measures if they had higher VC and HI cultural orientations.
Trust
While trust was linked to attitudes towards compliance and psychological distress, it did not notably predict these variables in the regression models.
This indicates that individual-level cultural orientations were more influential in explaining compliance attitudes and psychological responses than interpersonal trust.
The study highlighted the importance of considering psychological distress and cultural orientations in public health interventions to promote public cooperation.
By incorporating individuals’ beliefs and concerns, effective strategies can be developed to fight infectious diseases without compromising democratic values.
Success Across Cultures 