Summary
Contents
Subject index
Written by leading social psychologists with expertise in leadership, health and emergency behaviour – who have also played an important role in advising governments on COVID-19 – this book provides a broad but integrated analysis of the psychology of COVID-19 It explores the response to COVID-19 through the lens of social identity theory, drawing from insights provided by four decades of research. Starting from the premise that an effective response to the pandemic depends upon people coming together and supporting each other as members of a common community, the book helps us to understand emerging processes related to social (dis)connectedness, collective behaviour and the societal effects of COVID-19. In this it shows how psychological theory can help us better understand, and respond to, the events shaping the world in 2020. Considering key topics such as: • Leadership • Communication • Risk perception • Social isolation • Mental health • Inequality • Misinformation • Prejudice and racism • Behaviour change • Social Disorder This book offers the foundation on which future analysis, intervention and policy can be built. We are proud to support the research into Covid-19. We are delighted that on publication the finalised eBook will be free. For those who prefer print, it will be possible to purchase a paperback version. All Royalties from this book will be donated to the Save the Children charity. If you’d like to read an uncorrected draft of this book ahead of its publication please visit: https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2020/05/addressing-the-psychology-of-together-apart-free-book-download/
Risk Perception
Risk Perception
Patient A1.1, who was then still experiencing mild respiratory symptoms, attended a birthday party with nine other people. They hugged and shared food at the three-hour party. Seven of the attendees soon became ill. Within about a week of the onset of symptoms, the condition of [patient A1.1] deteriorated. The person was hospitalized, put on a ventilator and subsequently died. . . . Meanwhile, two of the birthday party attendees became critically ill and were put on ventilators. Both died. (Cha, 2020)
The behaviours that cause – or prevent – the spread of COVID-19 are ‘micro’ behaviours that people engage in dozens of times every day: touching one’s face, shaking hands, physically distancing from other customers in the supermarket, or visiting an ageing relative. These behaviours ultimately determined whether a community managed to ‘flatten the curve’ and become one of the success stories in the initial COVID-19 response, or alternatively, experienced uncontrolled spread and ensuing tragedy. However, there is rarely complete alignment between the perceived risk of these behaviours and their actual risk. This complicates the goal of minimising those interactions that are high risk for transmission (e.g., large intergenerational family gatherings with shared food) without banning those activities that are unlikely to pose a risk (e.g., going for a solo run on a quiet beach).
Shared group membership attenuates risk perception and increases health risk taking
As outlined in Section A, when people see themselves and others through the lens of social identities, their behaviour, emotions, and thoughts are fundamentally shaped by these social identities. It should come as no surprise, then, that one of the things affected by shared group membership is our perception of risk. The first evidence that social relationships affect health risk taking was documented by public health campaigners attempting to slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV. Researchers found that people were far less likely to take precautions (and were therefore far more likely to contract STDs) when their sexual partner was someone they trusted and had a close relationship with (Hammer, Fisher, Fitzgerald, & Fisher, 1996). Similarly, needle sharing is not a behaviour that occurs in a vacuum; instead it is most likely to occur in small, tight-knit groups of users among whom there is reciprocal trust (Unger et al., 2006).
The evidence that these processes are driven by social identity has been gathered primarily in the context of mass gatherings. For decades, mass gatherings have been seen as major sites for the spread of contagious disease (Tam et al., 2012). Indeed, pilgrimages to Qom in Iran have been implicated in the global spread of COVID-19 (Memish, Ahmed, Schlagenhauf, Doumbia, & Khan, 2020). Mass gatherings also present heightened health risks associated with poor sanitation, hardships such as extreme weather and noise, and limited capacity for help in emergencies, because emergency services often have great difficulty accessing crowded areas (Ranse et al., 2017). However, attendees typically do not perceive mass gatherings as risky places. This is because people use shared group membership with others as a heuristic, or proxy indicator, for safety. Social identity researchers have found that the more strongly people identify with fellow attendees at a mass gathering, the more likely they are to report comfort and well-being in these environments (Cruwys et al., 2019; Novelli, Drury, & Reicher, 2010) and the less likely they are to be disturbed by the risks posed by the crowd (Pandey, Stevenson, Shankar, Hopkins, & Reicher, 2013).
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