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How personality and policy predict pandemic behavior

Understanding sheltering-in-place in 54 countries at the onset of Covid-19

Bibliographic Data

ID8724959
AuthorsFriedrich M Götz (0000-0001-8900-6844, corresponding author), Andrés Gvirtz (0000-0001-5815-7164), Adam D Galinsky (0000-0002-5150-6533), Jon M Jachimowicz (0000-0002-1197-8958)
Year2020
Volume76
Issue1
Pages39-49
Publication date2020-10-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Psychologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-066X • E-ISSN: 1935-990X
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1037/amp0000740
PMID33475389
OpenAlexW3086241785
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited8

The spread of COVID-19 within any given country or community at the onset of the pandemic depended in part on the sheltering-in-place rate of its citizens. The pandemic led us to revisit one of psychology's most fundamental and most basic questions in a high-stakes context: what determines human behavior? Adopting a Lewinian interactionist lens, we investigate the independent and joint effects of macrolevel government policies and microlevel psychological factors-that is, personality-on whether individuals sheltered-in-place. We analyzed data collected in late March and early April 2020 from 101,005 participants in 55 countries, a time period that coincided with the early and accelerating stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. This time period also contained substantial variation in the stringency of governmental policy toward sheltering-in-place, both between countries and within each country over time. Analyses revealed that personality and the stringency of governmental policies independently predicted sheltering-in-place rates. Policy stringency was positively related to sheltering-in-place. For the personality dimensions, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism all predicted higher rates of sheltering-in-place, whereas Extraversion was negatively related to staying at home. In addition, two personality traits-Openness to Experience and Neuroticism-interacted with governmental policy to predict whether individuals sheltered-in-place; openness and neuroticism each had weaker effects on sheltering-in-place as governmental policies became stricter. Theoretically, the findings demonstrate that individual differences predict behavior (i.e., sheltering-in-place) even when governments take strong action targeting that behavior. Practically, they suggest that even if governments lift their shelter-in-place restrictions, some individuals will shelter-in-place less than others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Agreeableness · Big Five personality traits · Conscientiousness · Context (archaeology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Demographic economics · Economics · Extraversion and introversion · Geography · Government (linguistics · Neuroticism · Openness to experience · Pandemic · Personality · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Medicine · Personality Traits and Psychology · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works29
Citations per year5,8
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 29
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