Impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on collectivism and individualism in China: A study of Weibo users

The global COVID-19 pandemic affected numerous aspects of individual lives, and researchers are now turning to study the potential impacts of the pandemic on culture and values. Previous research has shown that infectious disease outbreaks tend to make groups more collectivist. The present study drew on micro-blog big data from Weibo to verify whether COVID-19 and related factors changed collectivism and individualism in China, while explaining abnormal data. Time-series models verified that COVID-19 significantly affected collectivism and individualism among the Chinese people, and the severity of the epidemic, epidemic-related policies, and discussion about the epidemic among Weibo users significantly explained variation in these levels. Analysis of Weibo text one day before and one day after the dates of statistical outliers in collectivism and individualism suggested that the changes in these levels were associated with significant events in the epidemic.