Ideological and psychological predictors of COVID-19-related collective action, opinions, and health compliance across three nations

Becky L. Choma, Gordon Hodson, David Sumantry, Yaniv Hanoch, Michaela Gummerum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)
90 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Until vaccines or treatments are widely available and used, behavioral change (e.g. social distancing) on an unparalleled collective scale is the chief way to curb the spread of COVID-19. Relying on ideology and collective action models as conceptual frameworks, in the present study the role of ideological and psychological factors in COVID-19 -related opinions, health compliance behaviors, and collective action were examined in three countries. Results, examining country as a moderator, showed some politically conservative orientations, especially social dominance orientation, relate to less collective action, less support of measures to manage COVID-19, and lower compliance. Variables, including empathy for those affected by COVID-19 and group efficacy also predicted COVID-19-related attitudes and behavior. Belief in science and perceived risk also emerged as key factors to impact compliance-related attitudes and behaviors. Implications for motivating collective compliance are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)123-143
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Feb 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funder

This research was supported by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) awarded to Becky Choma and Gordon Hodson.

Keywords

  • political ideology
  • right-wing authoritarianism
  • social dominance orientation
  • empathy
  • group efficacy
  • collective action
  • COVID-19
  • health compliance behavior
  • belief in science
  • perceived risk

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Applied Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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