Boggio, P. S., Nezlek, J. B., et al. (2022).
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
122(4), 937-956.
Abstract
Understanding what factors are linked to public health behavior in a global pandemic is critical to mobilizing an effective public health response. Although public policy and health messages are often framed through the lens of individual benefit, many of the behavioral strategies needed to combat a pandemic require individual sacrifices to benefit the collective welfare. Therefore, we examined the relationship between individuals’ morality and their support for public health measures. In a large-scale study with samples from 68 countries worldwide (Study 1; N = 46,576), we found robust evidence that moral identity, morality-as-cooperation, and moral circles are each positively related to people’s willingness to engage in public health behaviors and policy support. Together, these moral dispositions accounted for 9.8%, 10.2%, and 6.2% of support for limiting contact, improving hygiene, and supporting policy change, respectively. These morality variables (Study 2) and Schwartz’s values dimensions (Study 3) were also associated with behavioral responses across 42 countries in the form of reduced physical mobility during the pandemic. These results suggest that morality may help mobilize citizens to support public health policy.
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Here is a summary of this research. I could not find a free pdf.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the world, and it has required individuals to make sacrifices for the collective good. The authors of this study were interested in understanding how individuals' moral identities, their beliefs about morality, and their sense of moral community might influence their willingness to support collective action to fight the pandemic.
The authors conducted a study with a sample of over 46,000 people from 68 countries. They found that people who had a strong moral identity, who believed that morality is about cooperation, and who had a broad sense of moral community were more likely to support collective action to fight the pandemic. These findings suggest that individuals' moral identities and beliefs can play an important role in motivating them to take action to benefit the collective good.
The authors conclude that their findings have important implications for public health campaigns. They suggest that public health campaigns should focus on appealing to people's moral identities and beliefs in order to motivate them to take action to fight the pandemic.
Here are some of the key findings of the study:
- People with a strong moral identity were more likely to support collective action to fight the pandemic.
- People who believed that morality is about cooperation were more likely to support collective action to fight the pandemic.
- People who had a broad sense of moral community were more likely to support collective action to fight the pandemic.
These findings suggest that individuals' moral identities and beliefs can play an important role in motivating them to take action to benefit the collective good.
