National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic.
Jay Joseph Van BavelAleksandra CichockaValerio CapraroHallgeir SjåstadJohn B NezlekTomislav PavlovićMark AlfanoMichele J GelfandFlávio AzevedoMichèle D BirtelAleksandra CislakPatricia L LockwoodRobert Malcolm RossKoen AbtsElena R AgadullinaJohn Jamir Benzon R ArutaSahba Nomvula BesharatiAlexander BorBecky L ChomaCharles David CrabtreeWilliam A CunninghamKoustav DeWaqas EjazChristian T ElbaekAndrej FindorDaniel FlichtentreiRenata FrancBiljana GjoneskaJune GruberEstrella GualdaYusaku HoriuchiToan Luu Duc HuynhAgustin M IbanezMostak Ahamed ImranJacob IsraelashviliKatarzyna JaskoJaroslaw KantorowiczElena Kantorowicz-ReznichenkoAndré KrouwelMichael LaakasuoClaus LammCaroline LeygueMing-Jen LinMohammad Sabbir MansoorAntoine MarieLewend MayiwarHonorata MazepusCillian McHughJohn Paul MindaPanagiotis MitkidisAndreas OlssonTobias OtterbringDominic J PackerAnat PerryMichael Bang PetersenArathy PuthillamJulián C Riaño-MorenoTobias RothmundHernando Santamaría-GarcíaPetra C SchmidDrozdstoy St StoyanovShruti TewariBojan TodosijevićManos TsakirisHans H TungRadu G UmbreșEdmunds VanagsMadalina VlasceanuAndrew VonaschMeltem YucelYucheng ZhangMohcine AbadEli AdlerNarin AkrawiHamza Alaoui MdarhriHanane AmaraDavid M AmodioBenedict G AntazoMatthew A J AppsF Ceren AyMouhamadou Hady BaSergio BarbosaBrock BastianAnton BergMaria P Bernal-ZárateMichael BernsteinMichal BialekEnnio BilanciniNatalia BogatyrevaLeonardo BoncinelliJonathan E BoothSylvie BorauOndrej BuchelC Daryl CameronChrissie F CarvalhoTatiana CeladinChiara CeramiHom Nath ChaliseXiaojun ChengLuca CianKate CockcroftJane R ConwayMateo Andres Córdoba-DelgadoChiara CrespiMarie CrouzevialleJo CutlerMarzena CypryańskaJustyna DabrowskaMichael A DanielsVictoria H DavisPamala N DayleySylvain DelouveeOgnjan DenkovskiGuillaume DezecacheNathan A DhaliwalAlelie B DiatoRoberto Di PaoloMarianna DrosinouUwe DulleckJānis EkmanisArhan S ErtanTom W EtienneHapsa Hossain FarhanaFahima FarkhariHarry FarmerAli FenwickKristijan FidanovskiTerry FlewShona FraserRaymond Boadi FrempongJonathan A FugelsangJessica GaleEsperanza Begoña García-NavarroPrasad GarladinneOussama GhajjouTheofilos GkinopoulosKurt GraySiobhán M GriffinBjarki GronfeldtMert GümrenRanju Lama GurungEran HalperinElizabeth HarrisVolo HerzonMatej HruškaGuanxiong HuangMatthias F C HudecekOzan IslerSimon JangardFrederik Juhl JørgensenFrank KachanoffJohn KahnApsara Katuwal DangolOleksandra KeudelLina KoppelMika KoverolaEmily KubinAnton KunnariYordan KutiyskiOscar LagunaJoshua LeotaEva LermerJonathan LevyNeil LevyChunyun LiElizabeth U LongChiara LongoniMarina MaglićDarragh McCashinAlexander L MetcalfIgor MikloušićSoulaimane El MimouniAsako MiuraJuliana Molina-ParedesCésar Monroy-FonsecaElena Morales-MarenteDavid MoreauRafał MudaAnnalisa MyerKyle NashTarik Nesh-NashJonas P NitschkeMatthew S NurseYohsuke OhtsuboVictoria Oldemburgo de MelloCathal O'MadagainMichal OndercoM Soledad Palacios-GalvezJussi PalomäkiYafeng PanZsófia PappPhilip PärnametsMariola Paruzel-CzachuraZoran PavlovićCésar Payán-GómezSilva PeranderMichael Mark PitmanRajib PrasadJoanna Pyrkosz-PacynaSteve RathjeAli RazaGabriel G RêgoKasey RheeClaire E RobertsonIván Rodríguez-PascualTeemu SaikkonenOctavio Salvador-GinezWaldir M SampaioGaia C SantiNatalia Santiago-TovarDavid SavageJulian A SchefferPhilipp SchöneggerDavid T SchultnerEnid M SchutteAndy ScottMadhavi SharmaPujan SharmaAhmed SkaliDavid StadelmannClara Alexandra StaffordDragan StanojevićAnna StefaniakAnni SterniskoAugustin StoicaKristina K StoyanovaBrent StricklandJukka SundvallJeffrey P ThomasGustav TinghögBenno TorglerIris J TraastRaffaele TucciarelliMichael TyralaNick D UngsonMete S UysalPaul A M Van LangeJan-Willem Van ProoijenDirk van RooyDaniel VästfjällPeter VerkoeijenJoana B VieiraChristian von SikorskiAlexander Cameron WalkerJennifer WatermeyerErik WetterAshley V WhillansRobin WillardtMichael J A WohlAdrian Dominik WojcikKaidi WuYuki YamadaOnurcan YilmazKumar YogeeswaranCarolin-Theresa ZiemerRolf A ZwaanPaulo S BoggioPublished in: Nature communications (2022)
Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.