Harnessing Shared Identities to Mobilize Resilient Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Shared social identifications (family, community, nation, humanity) predict normative actions and psychological well-being and can be invoked discursively by leaders to mobilize their followers. We illustrate the potential for harnessing shared identities to mobilize resilient public responses against COVID-19. Study 1 explored which patterns of social identification predicted protective behaviors (personal hygiene, physical distancing), prosocial actions (helping proximal and distal others), and psychological well-being (mental well-being, depressive symptoms, anxiety) among 560 U.K. adults surveyed during lockdown. Study 2 contrasted Prime Minister Ardern's use of identity-based rhetoric to mobilize New Zealanders, with Prime Minister Johnson's use of individualistic appeals to the U.K.

SUBMITTER: Vignoles VL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8013210 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature