Cultural orientation, power, belief in conspiracy theories, and intentions to reduce the spread of COVID-19
Open accessAbstract
The current study investigated cultural and psychological factors associated with intentions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Participants (n = 704) completed measures of individualism-collectivism, belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19, feelings of powerlessness, and intentions to engage in behaviours that reduce the spread of COVID-19. Results revealed that vertical individualism negatively predicted intentions to engage in social distancing, directly and indirectly through both belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and feelings of powerlessness. Vertical collectivism positively predicted social distancing intentions directly. Horizontal collectivism positively predicted social distancing intentions indirectly through feelings of powerlessness. Finally, horizontal collectivism positively predicted hygiene-related intentions both directly and indirectly through lower feelings of powerlessness. These findings suggest that promoting collectivism may be a way to increase engagement with efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19. They also highlight the importance of examining the interplay between culture and both personal feelings (powerlessness) and information consumption (conspiracy theories) during times of crisis.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Levels of collectivism were associated with higher intentions to engage in social distancing behaviours and mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Indeed, levels of collectivism were associated with higher intentions to engage in social distancing behaviours and mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic [44, 45].”
From Adaptive function and correlates of anxiety during a pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [44]
The Results and Discussion (no page numbers provided) report that collectivism predicted higher intentions to socially distance. The Method describes social-distancing and hygiene measures, but the paper does not report a finding about mask-wearing intentions. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.98.2.224 · Cited by 21,995 · see citing works
Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind.
Triandis, H. C., & Hofstede, G. (1993) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2393257 · Cited by 17,696 · see citing works
Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response
Bavel, J. J. V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., et al. (2020) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z · Cited by 4,964 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Supporting this idea, at the cultural level Gelfand et al. (2020) found that tighter cultures (considered more collectivist; e.g., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea) have been able to contain the spread of the virus more efficiently and effectively than looser cultures (considered more…”
BackgroundSelf-citationRequired sample size to detect the mediated effect
Fritz, M. S., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2007) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01882.x · Cited by 4,810 · see citing works
Converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism.
Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.1.118 · Cited by 2,992 · see citing works
Singelis, T. M., Triandis, H. C., Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Gelfand, M. J. (1995) · Cross-Cultural Research · doi:10.1177/106939719502900302 · Cited by 2,324 · see citing works
Understanding Conspiracy Theories
Douglas, K. M., Uscinski, J. E., Sutton, R. M., Cichocka, A., Nefes, T., Ang, C. S., & Deravi, F. (2019) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12568 · Cited by 1,511 · cited 2× · see citing works
“In turn, belief in conspiracy theories has important social and health-related consequences (Douglas et al., 2019) including reduced engagement with mainstream politics, climate change initiatives, and vaccination programmes (Jolley&Douglas, 2014a, 2014b) and has been identified as a likely…”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe Effects of Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories on Vaccination Intentions
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089177 · Cited by 1,232 · cited 4× · see citing works
“For example, Jolley andDouglas (2014b) found that feelings of powerlessness mediated the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and lower vaccination intentions, a relationship they also demonstrated for climate-friendly behaviours (Jolley & Douglas, 2014a).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationMeasuring Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale
Brotherton, R., French, C. C., & Pickering, A. D. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00279 · Cited by 950 · see citing works
Jolley, D., & Douglas, K. M. (2014) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.12018 · Cited by 685 · see citing works
Self-citationMiller, J. G., Bersoff, D. M., & Harwood, R. L. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.1.33 · Cited by 421 · see citing works
Miller, J. G., Bersoff, D. M., & Harwood, R. L. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.58.1.33 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
Murray, D. R., Trudeau, R., & Schaller, M. (2011) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167210394451 · Cited by 322 · see citing works
Cichocka, A., Marchlewska, M., & de Zavala, A. D. (2016) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550615616170 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Douglas, K. M., & Sutton, R. M. (2011) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Self-citation“I Know Things They Don’t Know!”: The Role of Need for Uniqueness in Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Lantian, A., Muller, D., Nurra, C., & Douglas, K. M. (2017) · Social Psychology · doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000306 · Cited by 176 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, the need for uniqueness, which is argued to be a central feature of individualism (e.g., Cai et al., 2018;Wang, Fan, & Ouyang, 2017), consistently predicts conspiracy beliefs (Hart & Graether, 2018; Lantian et al., 2017).”
BackgroundWu, J., Balliet, D., Peperkoorn, L. S., Romano, A., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02956 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Increasing Need for Uniqueness in Contemporary China: Empirical Evidence
Cai, H., Zou, X., Feng, Y., Liu, Y., & Jing, Y. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00554 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Xiang, P., Zhang, H., Geng, L., Zhou, K., & Yu-ping, W. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00187 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Training to recognize individual differences in collectivism and individualism within culture
Triandis, H. C., & Singelis, T. M. (1998) · International Journal of Intercultural Relations · doi:10.1016/s0147-1767(97)00034-5 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
March, E., & Springer, J. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225964 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Hart, J., & Graether, M. (2018) · Journal of Individual Differences · doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000268 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Gelfand, M. J., Jackson, J. C., Pan, X., et al. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/m7f8a · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Consumer self-construal, need of uniqueness and preference of brand logo shape
Haizhong, W. A. N. G., Xiaowen, F. A. N., & OUYANG, J. (2017) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2017.01113 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Counter Cross-Cultural Priming and Relative Deprivation: The Role of Individualism–Collectivism
van den Bos, K., van Veldhuizen, T. S., & Au, A. K. C. (2014) · Social Justice Research · doi:10.1007/s11211-014-0230-6 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Parasite stress is not so critical to the history of religions or major modern group formations
Scott Atran, B. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11001361 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Kim, U. Triandis, H. C. Kâğitçibaşi, Ç. Choi, S.‐C. & Yoon, G. (1994). Cross‐cultural research and methodology series, Vol. 18. Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications., Michigan: Sage Publications, Inc.
- Schaller, M., & Duncan, L. A. (2007). The behavioral immune system: Its evolution and social psychological implications In Forgas J. P., Haselton M. G. & Hippel W. V. (Eds.), Sydney symposium of social psychology. Evolution and the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and social cognition (pp. 293– 307). Oxford: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
- WHO (2020b). Munich security conference. WHO | World Health Organization Retrieved from https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/munich‐security‐conference.
- Wilson, M. S., & Hartley, S. M. (2015). Narcissism, psychopathy and machiavellianism: Associations between cultural factors and interpersonal dominance In Fitzgerald M. (Ed.), Psychopathy: Risk factors, behavioral symptoms and treatment options (pp. 75– 93). UK: Nova Science Publishers.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Collectivism predicts mask use during COVID-19
Lu, J. G., Jin, P., & English, A. S. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2021793118 · Cited by 342 · see citing works
Results of the COVID-19 mental health international for the general population (COMET-G) study
Fountoulakis, K. N., Karakatsoulis, G., Abraham, S., Adorjan, K., Ahmed, H. U., Alarcón, R. D., Arai, K., Auwal, S. S., Berk, M., Bjedov, S., et al. (2022) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2021.10.004 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Duplaga, M., & Grysztar, M. (2021) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare9010043 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
“The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the great public health challenges are accompanied and impeded by various forms of misinformation [51].”
BackgroundAre conspiracy theories harmless?
Douglas, K. M. (2021) · The Spanish Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1017/sjp.2021.10 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
“However, as we have seen in the case of COVID–19 conspiracy theories, promoting a collectivist mindset may help people resist the temptation of conspiracy theories (Biddlestone et al., 2020).”
BackgroundSelf-citationAdaptive function and correlates of anxiety during a pandemic
Salali, G. D., Uysal, M. S., & Bevan, A. (2021) · Evolution, Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.1093/emph/eoab037 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
- Authors
- Biddlestone, M., Green, R., & Douglas, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Kent (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Biddlestone, Mikey
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-06-27
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 663-673
- ISSN
- 0144-6665 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8309
- PMC
- PMC7361833
- OpenAlex
- W3035094450
- Cited by
- 330
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 94 · 2021: 107 · 2020: 16
- FWCI
- 74.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- British Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, conspiracy theories, individualism-collectivism, vertical individualism, vertical collectivism, horizontal collectivism, powerlessness, hygiene practices, cultural orientation, public health behavior, information consumption
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, Physical Distancing, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, Attitude to Health, Culture, Female, Humans, Hygiene, Male, Pneumonia, Viral, Power, Psychological, Public Opinion, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Concept, Coronavirus Infections, Intention, Risk Reduction Behavior, Pandemics
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
