Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic
BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that national cultural traits, such as collectivism–individualism and tightness–looseness, are associated with COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, although East Asian countries have outperformed other countries in containing COVID-19 infections and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.924385/full |
| _version_ | 1817999498121576448 |
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| author | Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Plamen Akaliyski Plamen Akaliyski Jan Paul Heisig Jan Paul Heisig Simon Löbl Michael Minkov Michael Minkov |
| author_facet | Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Plamen Akaliyski Plamen Akaliyski Jan Paul Heisig Jan Paul Heisig Simon Löbl Michael Minkov Michael Minkov |
| author_sort | Jianghong Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that national cultural traits, such as collectivism–individualism and tightness–looseness, are associated with COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, although East Asian countries have outperformed other countries in containing COVID-19 infections and lowering mortality in the first pandemic waves, no studies to date have examined flexibility-monumentalism, a cultural trait that uniquely distinguishes East Asia from the rest of the world. Moreover, none of the previous studies have explored mechanisms underpinning the association between national culture and COVID-19 mortality.AimsOur study fills in these gaps by examining the association between flexibility-monumentalism and COVID-19 mortality, adjusting for important covariates and by analyzing mask wearing and fear of COVID-19 during the first weeks of the pandemic as plausible mechanisms underpinning this association.MethodsWe constructed and analyzed a dataset including 37 countries that have valid information on flexibility-monumentalism, COVID-19 deaths as of 31 October 2020 (before the start of vaccination campaigns), and relevant covariates including two other national cultural traits (individualism–collectivism and tightness–looseness) and other national characteristics (economic, political, demographic and health). Multiple linear regression with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors was used to assess the independent effect of flexibility-monumentalism on COVID-19 mortality. Mediation was assessed by examining the indirect effects of flexibility through mask wearing and fear of COVID-19 and determining the statistical significance through bootstrapping. Graphical and delete-one analysis was used to assess the robustness of the results.ResultsWe found that flexibility was associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 mortality as of 31 October 2020, independent of level of democracy, per capita GDP, urbanization, population density, supply of hospital beds, and median age of the population. This association with mortality is stronger and more robust than for two other prominent national cultural traits (individualism–collectivism and tightness–looseness). We also found tentative evidence that the effect of flexibility on COVID-19 mortality may be partially mediated through mask wearing in the first weeks of the pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:09:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0fcb562145a44ee950bc41a3e848b6b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:09:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0fcb562145a44ee950bc41a3e848b6b2022-12-22T02:15:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-08-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.924385924385Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemicJianghong Li0Jianghong Li1Jianghong Li2Plamen Akaliyski3Plamen Akaliyski4Jan Paul Heisig5Jan Paul Heisig6Simon Löbl7Michael Minkov8Michael Minkov9President’s Research Group, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, GermanyTelethon KIDS Institute, Perth, Western AustraliaFaculty of Business and Law, Bankwest-Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University, Perth, WA, AustraliaDepartment of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, SpainGraduate School of System Design and Management, Keio University, Tokyo, JapanResearch Group “Health and Social Inequality”, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, GermanyInstitute of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyResearch Group “Health and Social Inequality”, WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Business and Economics, Varna University of Management, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Economics, Tartu University, Tartu, EstoniaBackgroundPrevious studies have shown that national cultural traits, such as collectivism–individualism and tightness–looseness, are associated with COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, although East Asian countries have outperformed other countries in containing COVID-19 infections and lowering mortality in the first pandemic waves, no studies to date have examined flexibility-monumentalism, a cultural trait that uniquely distinguishes East Asia from the rest of the world. Moreover, none of the previous studies have explored mechanisms underpinning the association between national culture and COVID-19 mortality.AimsOur study fills in these gaps by examining the association between flexibility-monumentalism and COVID-19 mortality, adjusting for important covariates and by analyzing mask wearing and fear of COVID-19 during the first weeks of the pandemic as plausible mechanisms underpinning this association.MethodsWe constructed and analyzed a dataset including 37 countries that have valid information on flexibility-monumentalism, COVID-19 deaths as of 31 October 2020 (before the start of vaccination campaigns), and relevant covariates including two other national cultural traits (individualism–collectivism and tightness–looseness) and other national characteristics (economic, political, demographic and health). Multiple linear regression with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors was used to assess the independent effect of flexibility-monumentalism on COVID-19 mortality. Mediation was assessed by examining the indirect effects of flexibility through mask wearing and fear of COVID-19 and determining the statistical significance through bootstrapping. Graphical and delete-one analysis was used to assess the robustness of the results.ResultsWe found that flexibility was associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 mortality as of 31 October 2020, independent of level of democracy, per capita GDP, urbanization, population density, supply of hospital beds, and median age of the population. This association with mortality is stronger and more robust than for two other prominent national cultural traits (individualism–collectivism and tightness–looseness). We also found tentative evidence that the effect of flexibility on COVID-19 mortality may be partially mediated through mask wearing in the first weeks of the pandemic.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.924385/fullCOVID-19mortalitynational cultural traitsflexibility-monumentalismmask wearingfear of catching COVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Jianghong Li Plamen Akaliyski Plamen Akaliyski Jan Paul Heisig Jan Paul Heisig Simon Löbl Michael Minkov Michael Minkov Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic Frontiers in Psychology COVID-19 mortality national cultural traits flexibility-monumentalism mask wearing fear of catching COVID-19 |
| title | Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | flexible societies excelled in saving lives in the first phase of the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | COVID-19 mortality national cultural traits flexibility-monumentalism mask wearing fear of catching COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.924385/full |
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