TY - JOUR
T1 - Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants
T2 - The mediating effect of the desire for tightness
AU - PsyCorona Collaboration
AU - Mula, Silvana
AU - Di Santo, Daniela
AU - Resta, Elena
AU - Bakhtiari, Farin
AU - Baldner, Conrad
AU - Molinario, Erica
AU - Pierro, Antonio
AU - Gelfand, Michele J.
AU - Denison, Emmy
AU - Agostini, Maximilian
AU - Bélanger, Jocelyn J.
AU - Gützkow, Ben
AU - Kreienkamp, Jannis
AU - Abakoumkin, Georgios
AU - Abdul Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum
AU - Ahmedi, Vjollca
AU - Akkas, Handan
AU - Almenara, Carlos A.
AU - Atta, Mohsin
AU - Bagci, Sabahat Cigdem
AU - Basel, Sima
AU - Kida, Edona Berisha
AU - Bernardo, Allan B.I.
AU - Buttrick, Nicholas R.
AU - Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit
AU - Choi, Hoon Seok
AU - Cristea, Mioara
AU - Csaba, Sára
AU - Damnjanovic, Kaja
AU - Danyliuk, Ivan
AU - Dash, Arobindu
AU - Douglas, Karen M.
AU - Enea, Violeta
AU - Faller, Daiane Gracieli
AU - Fitzsimons, Gavan J.
AU - Gheorghiu, Alexandra
AU - Gómez, Ángel
AU - Hamaidia, Ali
AU - Han, Qing
AU - Helmy, Mai
AU - Hudiyana, Joevarian
AU - Jeronimus, Bertus F.
AU - Jiang, Ding Yu
AU - Jovanović, Veljko
AU - Kamenov, Željka
AU - Kende, Anna
AU - Keng, Shian Ling
AU - Reitsema, Anne Margit
AU - Stroebe, Wolfgang
AU - van Lissa, Caspar J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from 41 countries (N = 55,015) collected as part of the PsyCorona project, a cross-national longitudinal study on responses to COVID-19. Our predictions were tested through multilevel and SEM models, treating participants as nested within countries. Results showed that people's concern with COVID-19 threat was related to greater desire for tightness which, in turn, was linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. These findings were followed up with a longitudinal model (N = 2,349) which also showed that people's heightened concern with COVID-19 in an earlier stage of the pandemic was associated with an increase in their desire for tightness and negative attitudes towards immigrants later in time. Our findings offer insight into the trade-offs that tightening social norms under collective threat has for human groups.
AB - Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from 41 countries (N = 55,015) collected as part of the PsyCorona project, a cross-national longitudinal study on responses to COVID-19. Our predictions were tested through multilevel and SEM models, treating participants as nested within countries. Results showed that people's concern with COVID-19 threat was related to greater desire for tightness which, in turn, was linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. These findings were followed up with a longitudinal model (N = 2,349) which also showed that people's heightened concern with COVID-19 in an earlier stage of the pandemic was associated with an increase in their desire for tightness and negative attitudes towards immigrants later in time. Our findings offer insight into the trade-offs that tightening social norms under collective threat has for human groups.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Desire for tightness
KW - Negative attitudes
KW - Threat
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124902251&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100028
DO - 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100028
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124902251
SN - 2666-6227
VL - 3
JO - Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology
JF - Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology
M1 - 100028
ER -