The importance of (shared) human values for containing the COVID‐19 pandemic

The COVID‐19 pandemic poses an exceptional challenge for humanity. Because public behaviour is key to curbing the pandemic at an early stage, it is important for social psychological researchers to use their knowledge to promote behaviours that help manage the crisis. Here, we identify human values...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Journal of Social Psychology 2020-07, Vol.59 (3), p.618-627
Main Authors: Wolf, Lukas J., Haddock, Geoffrey, Manstead, Antony S. R., Maio, Gregory R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude to Health
Betacoronavirus
Citizens
Compliance
Conservation
Corona virus
Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control
Coronavirus Infections - psychology
COVID-19
Crises
Cultural values
Editors: Laura G. E. Smith and Stephen Gibson
Health Behavior
Human values
Humans
Motivation
National guidelines
Pandemics
Pandemics - prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral - psychology
Prosocial behavior
Prosocial behaviour
Public behavior
Risk Reduction Behavior
SARS-CoV-2
Social Values
Special Section Paper
Transcendence
Value similarity
Values
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Summary:The COVID‐19 pandemic poses an exceptional challenge for humanity. Because public behaviour is key to curbing the pandemic at an early stage, it is important for social psychological researchers to use their knowledge to promote behaviours that help manage the crisis. Here, we identify human values as particularly important in driving both behavioural compliance to government guidelines and promoting prosocial behaviours to alleviate the strains arising from a prolonged pandemic. Existing evidence demonstrates the importance of human values, and the extent to which they are shared by fellow citizens, for tackling the COVID‐19 crisis. Individuals who attach higher importance to self‐transcendence (e.g., responsibility) and conservation (e.g., security) values are likely to be more compliant with COVID‐19 behavioural guidelines and to help others who are struggling with the crisis. Further, believing that fellow citizens share one's values has been found to elicit a sense of connectedness that may be crucial in promoting collective efforts to contain the pandemic. The nature of values, and cross‐cultural agreement on their importance, suggests that they are ideally suited to developing and tailoring effective, global interventions to combat this pandemic.
ISSN:0144-6665
2044-8309
DOI:10.1111/bjso.12401