Cultural orientation and perceived control over COVID-19 preventive behaviors

Abstract

We examine whether cultural orientation can explain the variation in the uptake of preventive actions against COVID-19 and how messagingshould be framed depending on individuals’ cultural orientations. We show that people with a high vertical cultural orientation are less likely to follow preventive measures because they perceive themselves as having less control over their decisions. However, people with a high horizontal cultural orientation are likely to feel high levels of control over their response to preventive measures and are therefore more likely to adopt them. Furthermore, we show that when preventive measures are framed as protecting the self (versus others), people with a vertical cultural orientation perceive greater control and a greater willingness to comply with that measure.

Keywords

• covid-19
• cultural orientation
• vertical orientation
• horizontal orientation
• perceived control