Cooperation and trust across societies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology • Vol/Iss. 52 (7) • SAGE Publications • • Published In • Pages: 622-642 •
By Romano, Angelo, Spadaro, Guiliana , Balliet, Daniel , Joireman, Jeff , Van Lissa, Caspar , Jin, Shuxian , Agostini, Maximilian , Belanger, Jocelyn J. , Gutzkow, Ben , Kreienkamp, Jannis , Leander, N. Pontus , PsyCorona Collaboration

Abstract

Researchers used various hypotheses to determine if cross-country differences in trust and cooperation would predict prosocial COVID-19 responses and policies. Using individual surveys from 34,526 participants from 41 countries, there were no significant associations between trust and cooperation and prosocial behavior, motivation, regulation, or stringency of policies. While the researchers did find significant variation among cross-country individuals, these results were unable to predict country-level prosocial responses.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
World Values Survey (WVS)Other researchers
World BankOther researchers
Oxford COVID-19 Government Response TrackerOther researchers
Center for Systems Science and EngineeringOther researchers

Hypotheses (5)

HypothesisSupported
Prosocial COVID-19 responses would be positively related to country-level cooperation.Not supported
Prosocial COVID-19 responses would be positively related to country-level trust.Not supported
Countries characterized by higher quality of institutions, greater religiosity, and lower historical prevalence of pathogens will predict prosocial responses to COVID-19.Not supported
Countries with low cooperation and low trust should be more likely to implement behavioral regulation policies in response to COVID-19.Not supported
Countries with low cooperation and low trust should be more likely to have more stringent COVID-19 policies.Not supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: danielle.russell