The psychological determinants of avoiding crowded areas: An international and political investigation

IF 1.8 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

Journal of Social and Political Psychology Pub Date : 2023-08-21 DOI:10.5964/jspp.9819

L. Matsunaga, Daniel P. Aldrich, Cristiane Faiad, T. Aoki, P. Tseng, J. Aida

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Social isolation is one of the most important measures to reduce clusters of infections. This research aims to explain why people avoided crowded spaces during periods of high global infection of COVID-19 in a cross-national and politically diverse sample. We conducted a cross-cultural survey using Likert-type scale questions (N = 1,196) in New York (n = 313), Brasilia (n = 283), Tokyo (n = 300), and Taipei (n = 300). We ascertained the validity of a model based on the theory of planned behavior, moral norms, and risk perception while analyzing invariance in its estimates and differences in the component`s mean scores across cultures and political groups. The results showed that the data fit the model well, and we found significant differences across countries by comparing the components` mean scores and estimates. Finally, diverging political views generated contrasting scores in the most politically polarized cultures. This study thus shows how the act of avoiding crowded places is shaped by social-cognitive determinants, cultural background, and political views. These insights are relevant for the formulation of better public health policies. It also calls for the academic community to build an integrative research agenda over psychological phenomena based on social factors and calls for the need for behavioral management in pandemics.

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避开拥挤地区的心理决定因素:一项国际和政治调查

社会隔离是减少聚集性感染的最重要措施之一。这项研究旨在解释为什么人们在全球COVID-19高感染率期间避开拥挤的空间，这是一个跨国和政治多样化的样本。我们在纽约(N = 313)、巴西利亚(N = 283)、东京(N = 300)和台北(N = 300)使用李克特式量表问题(N = 1196)进行了跨文化调查。我们确定了一个基于计划行为、道德规范和风险感知理论的模型的有效性，同时分析了其估计值的不变性以及不同文化和政治群体中组成部分平均得分的差异。结果表明，数据很好地拟合了模型，通过比较各组成部分的平均得分和估计值，我们发现各国之间存在显著差异。最后，不同的政治观点在政治两极分化最严重的文化中产生了截然不同的分数。因此，这项研究表明，避开拥挤场所的行为是如何受到社会认知决定因素、文化背景和政治观点的影响的。这些见解与制定更好的公共卫生政策有关。它还呼吁学术界建立一个基于社会因素的心理现象的综合研究议程，并呼吁需要在流行病中进行行为管理。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Social and Political Psychology Social Sciences-Sociology and Political Science

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

4.80%

发文量

审稿时长

40 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Social and Political Psychology (JSPP) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal (without author fees), published online. It publishes articles at the intersection of social and political psychology that substantially advance the understanding of social problems, their reduction, and the promotion of social justice. It also welcomes work that focuses on socio-political issues from related fields of psychology (e.g., peace psychology, community psychology, cultural psychology, environmental psychology, media psychology, economic psychology) and encourages submissions with interdisciplinary perspectives. JSPP is comprehensive and integrative in its approach. It publishes high-quality work from different epistemological, methodological, theoretical, and cultural perspectives and from different regions across the globe. It provides a forum for innovation, questioning of assumptions, and controversy and debate. JSPP aims to give creative impetuses for academic scholarship and for applications in education, policymaking, professional practice, and advocacy and social action. It intends to transcend the methodological and meta-theoretical divisions and paradigm clashes that characterize the field of social and political psychology, and to counterbalance the current overreliance on the hypothetico-deductive model of science, quantitative methodology, and individualistic explanations by also publishing work following alternative traditions (e.g., qualitative and mixed-methods research, participatory action research, critical psychology, social representations, narrative, and discursive approaches). Because it is published online, JSPP can avoid a bias against research that requires more space to be presented adequately.