Trust in government moderates the association between fear of COVID-19 as well as empathic concern and preventive behaviour

• Published in: Communications psychology 2023-12, Vol.1 (1), p.43, Article 43
• Main Authors: Karakulak, Arzu, Tepe, Beyza, Dimitrova, Radosveta, Abdelrahman, Mohamed, Akaliyski, Plamen, Alaseel, Rana, Alkamali, Yousuf Abdulqader, Amin, Azzam, Lizarzaburu Aguinaga, Danny A, Andres, Andrii, Aruta, John Jamir Benzon R, Assiotis, Marios, Avanesyan, Hrant, Ayub, Norzihan, Bacikova-Sleskova, Maria, Baikanova, Raushan, Bakkar, Batoul, Bartoluci, Sunčica, Benitez, David, Bodnar, Ivanna, Bolatov, Aidos, Borchet, Judyta, Bosnar, Ksenija, Broche-Pérez, Yunier, Buzea, Carmen, Cassibba, Rosalinda, Carbonell, Marta Martín, Chen, Bin-Bin, Dimitrovska, Gordana Ristevska, Công Doanh, Dương, Dominguez Espinosa, Alejandra Del Carmen, Edine, Wassim Gharz, Ferenczi, Nelli, Fernández-Morales, Regina, Gaete, Jorge, Gan, Yiqun, Giolo, Suely, Giordani, Rubia Carla Formighieri, Friehs, Maria-Therese, Gindi, Shahar, Gjoneska, Biljana, Godoy, Juan Carlos, Del Pilar Grazioso, Maria, Hancheva, Camellia, Hapunda, Given, Hihara, Shogo, Husain, Mohd Saiful, Islam, Md Saiful, Janovská, Anna, Javakhishvili, Nino, Jovanović, Veljko, Kabir, Russell Sarwar, Abdul Kadir, Nor Ba'yah, Karl, Johannes, Katović, Darko, Kauyzbay, Zhumaly, Kawashima, Tinka Delakorda, Kazmierczak, Maria, Khanna, Richa, Khosla, Meetu, Klicperová-Baker, Martina, Kozina, Ana, Krauss, Steven Eric, Landabur, Rodrigo, Lefringhausen, Katharina, Lewandowska-Walter, Aleksandra, Liang, Yun-Hsia, Makashvili, Ana, Malik, Sadia, Manrique-Millones, Denisse, Mastrotheodoros, Stefanos, McGrath, Breeda, Mechili, Enkeleint A, Mejía, Marinés, Mhizha, Samson, Michalek-Kwiecien, Justyna, Miconi, Diana, Mohsen, Fatema, Moreta-Herrera, Rodrigo, Muhl, Camila, Muradyan, Maria, Musso, Pasquale, Naterer, Andrej, Nemat, Arash, Neto, Felix, Neto, Joana, Palacio, Luz Marina Alonso, Okati-Aliabad, Hassan, Orellana, Carlos Iván, Orellana, Ligia María, Mishra, Sushanta Kumar, Park, Joonha, Pavlova, Iuliia, Peralta, Eddy, Petrytsa, Petro, Pišot, Saša, Prot, Franjo, Rasia, José, Rivera, Rita, Riyanti, Benedicta Prihatin Dwi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19 pandemic; empathic prosocial concern; fear of disease; preventive behaviours; Psychology; psykologi; trust in the government
• ISSN: 2731-9121; 2731-9121
• DOI: 10.1038/s44271-023-00046-5

With the COVID-19 pandemic, behavioural scientists aimed to illuminate reasons why people comply with (or not) large-scale cooperative activities. Here we investigated the motives that underlie support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours in a sample of 12,758 individuals from 34 countries. We hypothesized that the associations of empathic prosocial concern and fear of disease with support towards preventive COVID-19 behaviours would be moderated by trust in the government. Results suggest that the association between fear of disease and support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours was strongest when trust in the government was weak (both at individual- and country-level). Conversely, the association with empathic prosocial concern was strongest when trust in the government was high, but this moderation was only found at individual-level scores of governmental trust. We discuss how motivations may be shaped by socio-cultural context, and outline how findings may contribute to a better understanding of collective action during global crises.