Anxiety and Cynical Attitudes Towards the Law and the Authorities Among Poles and Swedes in the Time of Crisis: A Longitudinal Study Report

Abstract

Based on the meaning maintenance model, the expectation that anxiety in Poland and Sweden would differently predict cynical attitudes towards the law and the authorities was formulated. The study was conducted twice (in 2020, 3 months after the announcement of pandemic the COVID-19, and again in 2021, 15 months later) with the assumption that managing anxiety in the ever-present death-toll statistics is more difficult with time. The cultural differences between Poland and Sweden and the differences in the level of anxiety gave rise to the hypothesis that fear predicted cynical attitudes in Poland at Time 1 (N1 = 100) but not at Time 2 (N2 = 54) and conversely in Sweden (N1 = 100, N2 = 67). Statistical analyses using multilevel modelling for repeated measures data confirmed these hypotheses, showing that socially shared experience of anxiety may have its consequences in cynical attitudes. The findings of this research can be used to integrate knowledge about the specific mechanisms that protect against meaning violation in times of uncertainty into social policies and interventions, ensuring effective support during future crises.