Frontiers in Psychology (Dec 2022)
How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts
- Lucian Gideon Conway,
- Shailee R. Woodard,
- Alivia Zubrod,
- Marcela Tiburcio,
- Nora Angélica Martínez-Vélez,
- Angela Sorgente,
- Margherita Lanz,
- Joyce Serido,
- Rimantas Vosylis,
- Gabriela Fonseca,
- Žan Lep,
- Lijun Li,
- Maja Zupančič,
- Carla Crespo,
- Ana Paula Relvas,
- Kostas A. Papageorgiou,
- Foteini-Maria Gianniou,
- Tayler Truhan,
- Dara Mojtahedi,
- Sophie Hull,
- Caroline Lilley,
- Derry Canning,
- Esra Ulukök,
- Adnan Akın,
- Claudia Massaccesi,
- Emilio Chiappini,
- Riccardo Paracampo,
- Sebastian Korb,
- Magdalena Szaflarski,
- Almamy Amara Touré,
- Almamy Amara Touré,
- Lansana Mady Camara,
- Aboubacar Sidiki Magassouba,
- Abdoulaye Doumbouya,
- Melis Mutlu,
- Zeynep Nergiz Bozkurt,
- Karolina Grotkowski,
- Aneta M. Przepiórka,
- Nadia Saraí Corral-Frías,
- David Watson,
- Alejandro Corona Espinosa,
- Marc Yancy Lucas,
- Francesca Giorgia Paleari,
- Kristina Tchalova,
- Amy J. P. Gregory,
- Talya Azrieli,
- Jennifer A. Bartz,
- Harry Farmer,
- Simon B. Goldberg,
- Melissa A. Rosenkranz,
- Jennifer Pickett,
- Jessica L. Mackelprang,
- Janessa M. Graves,
- Catherine Orr,
- Rozel Balmores-Paulino
Affiliations
- Lucian Gideon Conway
- Department of Psychology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States
- Shailee R. Woodard
- Department of Psychology, Keene State College, Keene, NH, United States
- Alivia Zubrod
- Department of Psychology and Sociology, Park University, Parkville, MO, United States
- Marcela Tiburcio
- Departamento de Ciencias Sociales en Salud, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico
- Nora Angélica Martínez-Vélez
- Departamento de Ciencias Sociales en Salud, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico
- Angela Sorgente
- Unità di Ricerca Teoria della Mente, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Margherita Lanz
- Unità di Ricerca Teoria della Mente, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- Joyce Serido
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, United States
- Rimantas Vosylis
- Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
- Gabriela Fonseca
- Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Žan Lep
- University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Lijun Li
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, United States
- Maja Zupančič
- University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Carla Crespo
- 0University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Ana Paula Relvas
- 1University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Kostas A. Papageorgiou
- 2Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
- Foteini-Maria Gianniou
- 2Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
- Tayler Truhan
- 2Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
- Dara Mojtahedi
- 3University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
- Sophie Hull
- 3University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
- Caroline Lilley
- 3University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
- Derry Canning
- 3University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
- Esra Ulukök
- 4Department of Business Administration, Kırıkkale University, Kırıkkale, Turkey
- Adnan Akın
- 4Department of Business Administration, Kırıkkale University, Kırıkkale, Turkey
- Claudia Massaccesi
- 5Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Emilio Chiappini
- 5Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Riccardo Paracampo
- 6Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Sebastian Korb
- 7Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
- Magdalena Szaflarski
- 8University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Almamy Amara Touré
- 9Department of Medical Sciences, Kofi Annan University of Guinea, Conakry, Guinea
- Almamy Amara Touré
- 0National Centre of Training and Recherche in Rural Health of Mafèrinyah, Forécariah, Guinea
- Lansana Mady Camara
- 9Department of Medical Sciences, Kofi Annan University of Guinea, Conakry, Guinea
- Aboubacar Sidiki Magassouba
- 1Department of Public Health, Faculty of Sciences and Health Techniques, Gamal Abdel Nasser University, Conakry, Guinea
- Abdoulaye Doumbouya
- 0National Centre of Training and Recherche in Rural Health of Mafèrinyah, Forécariah, Guinea
- Melis Mutlu
- 2Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Zeynep Nergiz Bozkurt
- 3Cognitive Neuropsychology Master’s Program, Institute of Graduate Education, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Karolina Grotkowski
- 4Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, United States
- Aneta M. Przepiórka
- 5The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
- Nadia Saraí Corral-Frías
- 6Department of Psychology, University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico
- David Watson
- 7University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States
- Alejandro Corona Espinosa
- 7University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States
- Marc Yancy Lucas
- 6Department of Psychology, University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico
- Francesca Giorgia Paleari
- 8Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
- Kristina Tchalova
- 9Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Amy J. P. Gregory
- 9Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Talya Azrieli
- 9Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Jennifer A. Bartz
- 9Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Harry Farmer
- 0Institute for Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
- Simon B. Goldberg
- 1Department of Counseling Psychology and Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Melissa A. Rosenkranz
- 2Department of Psychiatry and Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, United States
- Jennifer Pickett
- 3Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- Jessica L. Mackelprang
- 4Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia
- Janessa M. Graves
- 5Washington State University – Spokane, Spokane, WA, United States
- Catherine Orr
- 4Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia
- Rozel Balmores-Paulino
- 6Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology College of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Baguio, Baguio, Philippines
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937211
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 13
Abstract
Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.
Keywords
