Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants: The mediating effect of the desire for tightness

Silvana Mula¹, Daniela Di Santo¹, Elena Resta¹, Farin Bakhtiari², Conrad Baldner¹, Erica Molinario³, Antonio Pierro¹, Michele J Gelfand^{4

5}, Emmy Denison⁴, Maximilian Agostini⁶, Jocelyn J Bélanger⁷, Ben Gützkow⁶, Jannis Kreienkamp⁶, Georgios Abakoumkin⁸, Jamilah Hanum Abdul Khaiyom⁹, Vjollca Ahmedi¹⁰, Handan Akkas¹¹, Carlos A Almenara¹², Mohsin Atta¹³, Sabahat Cigdem Bagci¹⁴, Sima Basel⁷, Edona Berisha Kida¹⁰, Allan B I Bernardo¹⁵, Nicholas R Buttrick¹⁶, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit¹⁷, Hoon-Seok Choi¹⁸, Mioara Cristea¹⁹, Sára Csaba²⁰, Kaja Damnjanovic²¹, Ivan Danyliuk²², Arobindu Dash²³, Karen M Douglas²⁴, Violeta Enea²⁵, Daiane Gracieli Faller⁷, Gavan J Fitzsimons²⁶, Alexandra Gheorghiu²⁵, Ángel Gómez²⁷, Ali Hamaidia²⁸, Qing Han²⁹, Mai Helmy^{30

31}, Joevarian Hudiyana³², Bertus F Jeronimus⁶, Ding-Yu Jiang³³, Veljko Jovanović³⁴, Željka Kamenov³⁵, Anna Kende²⁰, Shian-Ling Keng³⁶, Tra Thi Thanh Kieu³⁷, Yasin Koc⁶, Kamila Kovyazina³⁸, Inna Kozytska²², Joshua Krause⁶, Arie W Kruglanski⁴, Anton Kurapov²², Maja Kutlaca³⁹, Nóra Anna Lantos²⁰, Edward P Lemay Jr⁴, Cokorda Bagus Jaya Lesmana⁴⁰, Winnifred R Louis⁴¹, Adrian Lueders⁴², Najma Iqbal Malik¹³, Anton Martinez⁴³, Kira O McCabe⁴⁴, Jasmina Mehulić³⁵, Mirra Noor Milla³², Idris Mohammed⁴⁵, Manuel Moyano⁴⁶, Hayat Muhammad⁴⁷, Hamdi Muluk³², Solomiia Myroniuk⁶, Reza Najafi⁴⁸, Claudia F Nisa⁷, Boglárka Nyúl²⁰, Paul A O'Keefe³⁶, Jose Javier Olivas Osuna⁴⁹, Evgeny N Osin⁵⁰, Joonha Park⁵¹, Gennaro Pica⁵², Jonas H Rees⁵³, Anne Margit Reitsema⁶, Marika Rullo⁵⁴, Michelle K Ryan^{6

55

6}, Adil Samekin⁵⁶, Pekka Santtila⁵⁷, Edyta Sasin⁷, Birga Mareen Schumpe⁵⁸, Heyla A Selim⁵⁹, Michael Vicente Stanton⁶⁰, Wolfgang Stroebe⁶, Samiah Sultana⁶, Robbie M Sutton²⁴, Eleftheria Tseliou⁸, Akira Utsugi⁶¹, Jolien Anne van Breen⁶², Caspar J van Lissa⁶³, Kees Van Veen⁶, Michelle R vanDellen⁶⁴, Alexandra Vázquez²⁷, Robin Wollast⁶⁵, Victoria Wai-Lan Yeung⁶⁶, Somayeh Zand⁶⁷, Iris Lav Žeželj²¹, Bang Zheng⁶⁸, Andreas Zick⁶⁹, Claudia Zúñiga⁷⁰, N Pontus Leander⁶

Affiliations

¹ Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
² California State University, Fresno.
³ Florida Gulf Coast University.
⁴ University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
⁵ Stanford Graduate School of Business.
⁶ University of Groningen.
⁷ New York University Abu Dhabi.
⁸ University of Thessaly.
⁹ International Islamic University Malaysia.
¹⁰ Pristine University.
¹¹ Ankara Science University.
¹² Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.
¹³ University of Sargodha.
¹⁴ Sabanci University.
¹⁵ De La Salle University.
¹⁶ University of Virginia.
¹⁷ Thammasat University.
¹⁸ Sungkyunkwan University.
¹⁹ Heriot Watt University.
²⁰ ELTE Eötvös Loránd University.
²¹ University of Belgrade.
²² Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
²³ Leuphana University of Luneburg.
²⁴ University of Kent.
²⁵ Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi.
²⁶ Duke University.
²⁷ Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
²⁸ Setif 2 University.
²⁹ University of Bristol.
³⁰ Menoufia University.
³¹ Sultan Qaboos University.
³² Universitas Indonesia.
³³ National Chung-Cheng University.
³⁴ University of Novi Sad.
³⁵ University of Zagreb.
³⁶ Yale-NUS College.
³⁷ HCMC University of Education.
³⁸ Indipendent researcher, Kazakhstan.
³⁹ Durham University.
⁴⁰ Udayana University.
⁴¹ University of Queensland.
⁴² University of Limerick.
⁴³ University of Sheffield.
⁴⁴ Carleton University.
⁴⁵ Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.
⁴⁶ University of Cordoba.
⁴⁷ University of Peshawar.
⁴⁸ Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch.
⁴⁹ National Distance Education University (UNED).
⁵⁰ National Research University Higher School of Economics.
⁵¹ NUCB Business School.
⁵² University of Camerino (UNICAM).
⁵³ University of Bielefeld.
⁵⁴ University of Siena.
⁵⁵ University of Exeter.
⁵⁶ M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University.
⁵⁷ New York University Shanghai.
⁵⁸ University of Amsterdam.
⁵⁹ King Saud University.
⁶⁰ California State University, East Bay.
⁶¹ Nagoya University.
⁶² Leiden University.
⁶³ Utrecht University.
⁶⁴ University of Georgia.
⁶⁵ Université Clermont-Auvergne.
⁶⁶ Lingnan University.
⁶⁷ University of Milano-Bicocca.
⁶⁸ Imperial College London.
⁶⁹ Bielefeld University.
⁷⁰ Universidad de Chile.

PMID: 35098189
PMCID: PMC8691133
DOI: 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100028

Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants: The mediating effect of the desire for tightness

Silvana Mula et al. Curr Res Ecol Soc Psychol. 2022.

. 2022:3:100028.

doi: 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100028. Epub 2021 Dec 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
² California State University, Fresno.
³ Florida Gulf Coast University.
⁴ University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
⁵ Stanford Graduate School of Business.
⁶ University of Groningen.
⁷ New York University Abu Dhabi.
⁸ University of Thessaly.
⁹ International Islamic University Malaysia.
¹⁰ Pristine University.
¹¹ Ankara Science University.
¹² Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.
¹³ University of Sargodha.
¹⁴ Sabanci University.
¹⁵ De La Salle University.
¹⁶ University of Virginia.
¹⁷ Thammasat University.
¹⁸ Sungkyunkwan University.
¹⁹ Heriot Watt University.
²⁰ ELTE Eötvös Loránd University.
²¹ University of Belgrade.
²² Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
²³ Leuphana University of Luneburg.
²⁴ University of Kent.
²⁵ Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi.
²⁶ Duke University.
²⁷ Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
²⁸ Setif 2 University.
²⁹ University of Bristol.
³⁰ Menoufia University.
³¹ Sultan Qaboos University.
³² Universitas Indonesia.
³³ National Chung-Cheng University.
³⁴ University of Novi Sad.
³⁵ University of Zagreb.
³⁶ Yale-NUS College.
³⁷ HCMC University of Education.
³⁸ Indipendent researcher, Kazakhstan.
³⁹ Durham University.
⁴⁰ Udayana University.
⁴¹ University of Queensland.
⁴² University of Limerick.
⁴³ University of Sheffield.
⁴⁴ Carleton University.
⁴⁵ Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.
⁴⁶ University of Cordoba.
⁴⁷ University of Peshawar.
⁴⁸ Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch.
⁴⁹ National Distance Education University (UNED).
⁵⁰ National Research University Higher School of Economics.
⁵¹ NUCB Business School.
⁵² University of Camerino (UNICAM).
⁵³ University of Bielefeld.
⁵⁴ University of Siena.
⁵⁵ University of Exeter.
⁵⁶ M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University.
⁵⁷ New York University Shanghai.
⁵⁸ University of Amsterdam.
⁵⁹ King Saud University.
⁶⁰ California State University, East Bay.
⁶¹ Nagoya University.
⁶² Leiden University.
⁶³ Utrecht University.
⁶⁴ University of Georgia.
⁶⁵ Université Clermont-Auvergne.
⁶⁶ Lingnan University.
⁶⁷ University of Milano-Bicocca.
⁶⁸ Imperial College London.
⁶⁹ Bielefeld University.
⁷⁰ Universidad de Chile.

PMID: 35098189
PMCID: PMC8691133
DOI: 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100028

Abstract

Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from 41 countries (N = 55,015) collected as part of the PsyCorona project, a cross-national longitudinal study on responses to COVID-19. Our predictions were tested through multilevel and SEM models, treating participants as nested within countries. Results showed that people's concern with COVID-19 threat was related to greater desire for tightness which, in turn, was linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. These findings were followed up with a longitudinal model (N = 2,349) which also showed that people's heightened concern with COVID-19 in an earlier stage of the pandemic was associated with an increase in their desire for tightness and negative attitudes towards immigrants later in time. Our findings offer insight into the trade-offs that tightening social norms under collective threat has for human groups.

Keywords: COVID-19; Desire for tightness; Negative attitudes; Threat.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Given their role as Editor, Gelfand M.J. had no involvement in the peer-review of this article and had no access to information regarding its peer-review. All other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image, graphical abstract — **Graphical abstract**

**Fig. 1**
Effects of concern with COVID-19 threat (baseline) on negative attitudes towards immigrants (baseline) via desire for tightness (baseline). *Note*. Data were clustered by participants’ countries. All coefficients are standardized. Total effect is in brackets. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

**Fig. 2**
Longitudinal model of concern with COVID-19 (baseline) on attitudes towards immigrants (wave 7) via desire for tightness (wave 5). *Note*. Data were clustered by participants’ countries. All coefficients are standardized. Total effect is in brackets. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants: The mediating effect of the desire for tightness

Affiliations

Concern with COVID-19 pandemic threat and attitudes towards immigrants: The mediating effect of the desire for tightness

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources